


From Despair to Sunshine

by chain_unchained



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety, Depression, Fanfiction, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Suicide attempt, M/M, References to Depression, Romance, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:40:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 56,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28798527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chain_unchained/pseuds/chain_unchained
Summary: Mere months after his mother's passing, Ashe moves to live on the farm that his grandfather willed him-- only to find that the company he'd left, Joja, was eying the plot of land. A competition between him and a farmer backed by them ensues to decide the fate of the farmstead. Little does he know the role he'll play in the lives of his neighbors in the Cindersap forest...Spoiler and trigger warning for depression/anxiety/suicidal thoughts.
Relationships: Shane/Male Player (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 42
Kudos: 41





	1. May 22

**Author's Note:**

> This version of Shane is primarily inspired by the mod "Immersive Characters - Shane" by tenthousandcats. I cannot overstate how amazing this mod is and how much it expands on Shane's character while retaining that which in fact makes him Shane. It has options for gender neutrality, and I highly, HIGHLY recommend it to anyone looking for an improved chicken husband experience, even if you aren't going to make him your husband.

The quiet, rhythmic cries of crickets filled the still, peaceful evening air, calling hither to and fro as if they were singing to the twinkling stars up above in the inky black sky. Their glimmers reflected in the calm, glistening water of the small pond that Shane often found himself at when the storm raging inside his mind got to be too much for him to endure. Out of all the places in Pelican Town, it was the only one that he could go to for peace, quiet and solitude, the only company that ever kept him being the little frogs that enjoyed the pond as well and the occasional fish jumping out of the water to catch a bug that had passed overhead.

With a sharp _crack_ and a hiss, Shane opened his third can of beer and took a drink; after so many years of pounding back brewskis on the regular, a six-pack was barely enough to get him drunk, and nowhere near enough to get him plastered like he so often wanted. When he was plastered, he didn’t have to think, didn’t have to stress, didn’t have to remember how fully worthless his life was.

Why go to work? Why eat? Why even get out of fucking bed in the morning when all that waited him was the same eight-hour shift at that hellhole Joja-Mart? And for what, a paycheck that he’d end up spending on room and board at Marnie’s and beer at the bar? What was the point? Why did he even try…?

“Shane?”

Glancing over his shoulder, Shane’s eyes fell upon a familiar figure as it approached. “Oh, it’s you.” He mumbled, recognizing Ashe after he squinted through the dim light cast by the full moon hanging overhead. “Dunno why I’m surprised. You always manage to find me when I’m in a bad mood.”

While once not so long ago such a thing would have been said with the intention of being rude and nasty, this time there was no such intent in Shane’s voice; it was a simple statement of fact, a fact that he had almost begun to count on at this point. Ashe was a newcomer to the valley and Pelican Town, and from his very first day there he had practically made it his personal mission to seek out and talk to Shane every single day. No matter how rude Shane was, or how hard he tried to ignore the kid, Ashe persisted, somehow being _more_ stubborn than Shane was himself; he even went so far as to make him a plate full of cookies for his birthday, a gesture that got to Shane a lot more than he’d wanted it to. Jas and Marnie were the only other people in town who bothered to celebrate his birthday, and yet there was Ashe, treating him like he was a friend he’d known for years.

“What are you doing out here so late?” Ashe asked, the sound of his boot heels tapping against the wooden pier filling the air as he jogged towards the end, where Shane sat with his half-finished six pack and his legs dangling over the edge. For once, the stupid happy-go-lucky smile that was perpetually stuck on his face was gone, replaced instead by an expression of concern—or disgust, it could easily have been disgust considering how dark it was and how buzzed Shane was.

“Minding my own business.” Shane answered, looking back out to the lake as Ashe came to stand behind him. “You should try it sometime.” It was a half-hearted attempt to get the kid to leave, but he knew as soon as the words left his lips that it wouldn’t work; it seemed like the harder that he tried to push Ashe away, the more determined Ashe was to stay. Silence fell between the two for a few moments, as the crickets continued to chirp away and a nearby frog croaked; eventually, Shane pried another can of beer from the plastic rings binding the six-pack and held it over his shoulder. “Have a cold one.” Despite Ashe’s youthful (and girly) appearance, he was a regular at the bar much like Shane was, and could hold his alcohol better than most ‘manly’ men twice his age could. 

The gesture caught Ashe off-guard, but was very much welcome. “Ah, really? Thanks~” He accepted the can and plopped down merrily beside Shane as he pried the pull-tab up. It meant a lot that Shane offered a beer to him, as small of a gesture it was.

Silence once again filled the air as the two looked out at the mirror-like surface of the pond. “Buh… life.” Shane murmured, his bad knee jittering slightly as it tended to do when he was struggling. “… You ever feel like… no matter what, you’re gonna fail?”

He was waiting for Ashe to ask him what was wrong, waiting for the kid to try and pry into his business like the nosy parker he was. To his surprise, however, Ashe stayed quiet, sipping on his beer and watching the stars reflected in the pond. Maybe it was the surprise that made Shane lower his guard for once in his life, he didn’t know for sure. “Like you’re stuck in some miserable abyss and you’re so deep you can’t even see the light of day?” For some reason, he found himself now able to put to words the feelings that had been drowning and suffocating him for years. It helped that Ashe wasn’t trying to pull any psychological or analytical bullshit; the kid was just there, a sounding board for Shane to vent some of his repressed thoughts to. “I just feel like… no matter how hard I try, I’m not strong enough to climb out of that hole.”

Ashe quietly listened to Shane talk, slowly turning the can of beer around and around in his fingers. He’d had no idea that his friend—he’d considered Shane his friend from the outset, regardless of Shane’s own opinion of him—felt like this. It was shocking and saddening to hear such things coming from someone who, despite not liking his job, still got up and did it—he’d always thought of Shane as a resilient and strong man, and still thought that, but there was so much more hidden deep inside, almost waiting for someone to reach out.

Despite all of that, the last thing that Ashe wanted was to make a big deal out of what Shane had felt comfortable enough to share with him. Unable to think of anything else to say or do, he abruptly hoisted his beer to his lips and chugged it down in a few swigs, a feat that caught Shane off-guard and impressed him in equal measure. “Fast drinker.” He commented with a half-grin as Ashe lowered the now-empty can with a satisfied ‘aah’. “Man after my own heart.”

The grin faded as Ashe gave him that stupid, cheery smile he’d grown accustomed to seeing on his face. “Do me a favor… don’t be like me and make a habit of this shit.” He looked back out to the pond as he took a swig from his own beer. “You got a future ahead of you still.” For all his gruffness and coldness, Shane couldn’t stand to see a bright, genuine kid like Ashe throw his life away and end up like him. Still, he didn’t really think he needed to worry, since Ashe seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, but just like before, he couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out.

“I won’t.” Ashe promised, swinging his legs back and forth slowly as he watched a shooting star dash across the black sky. “… Hey, Shane?” He asked after a moment. “Let’s do this again sometime.”

As he’d watched that shooting star, he made a silent wish in his heart. He wanted to be closer to Shane, to be a supportive shoulder for the man to lean on when he needed it. It was a wish he wanted to come true almost as badly as his dream of winning his grandfather’s farm from Joja’s clutches. But Ashe wasn’t going to just wait and hold his breath, hoping that the outcome he wanted would fall into his lap—through his own will, he was going to make it happen.


	2. May 24 (Flower Dance)

The Flower Festival was… a unique festival, to say the least. Once a year at the end of spring, the town gathered at the festival grounds to celebrate and give thanks to nature—or at least, that’s what it used to be. These days, it was a glorified prom dance for grown adults, complete with the crowning of a King and Queen after a ritualistic dance of sorts.

For Ashe, who missed out on the last two years of high school in order to work at a Joja corporate office, it was a chance to have that experience—and he really had no interest in taking that chance. For all his enthusiasm in making friends with Shane, and his friendliness towards the townsfolk, he was rather on the shy side, with an event like the Flower Dance being way outside of his comfort zone.

What wasn’t, however, was the company of the grumpy chicken loving Shane, who was perfectly content to spend the festival at the buffet table helping himself to Gus’ cooking. “Aren’t you gonna dance?” He inquired curiously as he came to stand beside Shane, who was in the middle of his second plate of pepper poppers.

The question made Shane snort. “Fuck no, I look like a fucking tool when I dance.” He responded bluntly, glancing over in time to see Emily doing her ‘thing’ where she completely lost herself in the rhythm, or whatever it was, he had no idea. “Gotta admit, I’m surprised you aren’t over there. I figured you’d be all up in this type of shit.”

“Oh, nope. No way.” Ashe held up his arms in an X-shape and shook his head fervently. “I can’t stand being the center of attention like that.”

“That so?” It was a surprising thing to learn for Shane, who had this image in his head of Ashe being the social butterfly because he loved the attention. “And here I thought you liked being in the spotlight.” He bit down on a nice juicy popper and chewed slowly. “Guess that’s one thing we’ve got in common, then—”

He was abruptly cut off by Ashe making the loudest, most exaggerated gasp in the history of the world, like he’d just seen Atlantis in the punch bowl. Actually concerned as to why the kid would make such a noise, he followed Ashe’s line of sight until he spotted the platter of chocolate cornets sitting on the far end of the buffet. “For fuck’s sake, Ashe…” He muttered, watching as Ashe traipsed around the table and began to help himself to them—chocolate cornets were to Ashe what beer was to Shane, so he really couldn’t talk, since he had basically the same reaction to seeing his favorite beer on discount.

“Yay~” Happy as a clam, Ashe piled a plate high with the shell-shaped pastry and came back to Shane’s side, even though there were literally infinite spaces where he could eat instead. He began the ritual of eating them, which to Shane was perhaps the most ridiculous, unintentionally funny thing ever—he’d start eating from the narrow end, instead of at the fat end where there was a big hole for the chocolate cream to ooze out of, and then he’d panic and hastily lick up the cream that had been pushed out before it could spill. Rinse and repeat, until it was gone.

“You know, if you ate it from the _other_ end you wouldn’t have to do that.” Shane pointed out as Ashe did his little panic face.

His comment made the youth pause mid-bite to look at him, surprise written on his face at the comment. “Oh, I know.” He answered, lowering the cornet with that dumb smile of his. “But you know how the first time you do something is the way you always remember how to do it? That’s me and this.”

“Fucking wierdo.” Shane shook his head and turned his attention back to his pepper poppers; he had hoped that Gus would make those special deviled eggs he made for the Egg Festival today, but he’d settle for gourmet poppers too. “Guess that makes two of us, though… if it weren’t for the food and Jas and Marnie I wouldn’t have bothered coming today.”

“Really?” Ashe stopped again to look at him, the smile on his face becoming somewhat muted; he could tell by the tone of Shane’s voice that the latter really did not want to be there.

“What do you fucking think?” Shane sighed and popped another one into his mouth to chew on slowly. That morning had been especially hard for him to get up out of bed; it was only Jas and Marnie’s resulting disappointment if he didn’t show up that eventually made him kick the covers off when all he wanted to do was stay in bed.

Almost as if on cue, he could see Jas break away from where she had been watching the dance with Vincent and start heading his way; as much as he loved the girl to bits, he wasn’t in much of a mood to entertain her, but he did his best to pick himself up as she drew near. “What’s up, squirt?”

“Shane, I wanna dance!” She announced, her hair buns bobbing up and down with each step she took; she came to stand before her godfather, looking up at him with the most hopeful expression on her face. “Can we? Please?”

It was the question Shane was desperately hoping she _wouldn’t_ ask, even though she asked it every year without fail. And every year, his answer was the same. “Sorry, kiddo… I’m not really feeling up to dancing.” He felt like shit as the words left him, and he could see the letdown clear on her innocent little face as she quietly accepted his response and made her way back to Vincent.

“Wow, talk about cold.”

As soon as the little girl was out of earshot, the snide voice spoke out; both Shane and Ashe glanced over their shoulders to see the snooty face of Percy sneering at the pair. Like Ashe, Percy was a newcomer to Pelican Town, having arrived just before Ashe did—and having claimed squatters’ rights on his grandfather’s farm, intending to clear it out to build a Joja Co. factory. Suffice it to say, Percy was not a very well liked person in town, even though the whole story with him and Ashe was only known by Lewis and Robin.

“Nobody asked for your fucking opinion.” Shane muttered with another quiet snort as he turned his attention once more to his poppers. Of course this asshole was going to try and start shit today of all days.

“Oh, but I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut after seeing such an atrocious display.” Percy sighed and shook his head dramatically, speaking with a faux posh accent that really made Shane want to punch him in his smug face. “Honestly, the poor girl—she really deserves better, don’t you think? Perhaps I shall go over and offer to dance with her in your place. I can’t help but pity her, having to be stuck with such a pathetic godfather—”

Shane bristled, opening his mouth to tear into him. There was a blur of movement in the corner of his eye, and before Percy could finish his insult, Ashe was upon him, both hands clutching fistfuls of Percy’s shirt as he glared up at him with genuine, raw fury. “Don’t you dare, you lowlife.” He growled, with no trace of his happy go lucky persona to be found. “You shut your mouth, right now.”

He didn’t care what Percy said about him—the jerk could call him every name under the sun, belittle and berate him, attempt to sabotage him, whatever he wanted, it didn’t matter. But Ashe wasn’t going to stand by and let him spew that same vitriol towards his friend. He already didn’t like Percy for what he and Morris were trying to pull with his grandfather’s farm, and for what they did to his mother, so this was just another reason to dislike them.

For a moment, Percy didn’t react; seeming to regain his composure, however, he laughed condescendingly, sneering down at the diminutive farmer with contempt and derision written clear on his face. He leaned down close to Ashe’s ear, speaking quietly so that only he could hear. “If I were you, I’d be a little more careful. I can easily call our little bet off and our lawyers will have you in court faster than you can say ‘crop rotation’.”

“Kkh…” Ashe’s hands were shaking slightly as he loosened his grip on Percy’s shirt; annoyed, Percy smacked his hands off and fixed his now wrinkled shirt.

“There’s a good little farmer boy.” The man’s face split into a smirk as he settled back into his skin.

“Listen asshole.” Shane gave Percy a cold glare as Ashe stepped back. “Say whatever shit you want about me, but go near Jas or Marnie and I’ll put you six feet underground.” Yeah, he was a worthless squishy shitbag, but there was no way in hell he was going to let anyone touch his family.

“Oh don’t get your boxers in a bunch, bumpkin.” Percy scoffed, puffing his chest out as his air of superiority returned. “I wouldn’t bother with any of you inbred savages anyway.” Seeming to have his dignity still in tact, the man stalked off, with Shane and Ashe both silently staring daggers into his back.

With a quiet huff, Shane bit down vehemently on a popper, imagining for just a moment that it was a miniature version of Percy screaming in pain as his guts squirted everywhere. It was a nasty image, to be sure, but it gave him some satisfaction at least. “Fucking smug ass Joja prick… I didn’t expect you to lose your shit like that, though.”

“Huh?” Ashe looked to him cluelessly, having returned to his usual cheery self. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb.” Shane’s brow cocked doubtfully. “You were pretty damn close to socking the guy. Not that I’m against the idea, I fucking hate him, but I’ve never seen you freak like that. Why’d you get so worked up when he was talking shit to me?”

“Because you’re my friend.” The answer was given so simply, so plainly, that it made Shane falter. “I won’t let anyone ever talk about my friends like that.”

For a long minute, Shane couldn’t think of what to say to that. “… Dammit, why are you so determined to make friends with me? I’ve done nothing but be rude and awful to you since you got here.”

“Hmm….” Ashe knelt down to pick up the plate he’d dropped, and the now dirty chocolate cornets that would have to be thrown away. “I needed a reason? I just wanted to be friends.” He straightened up and looked to Shane with a carefree smile, as the gentlest of breezes brushed through the festival grounds. “I guess out of everyone in town, I just… relate to you the most.”

“…. Fucking weirdo.” For some reason, the kid was really good at saying shit that tripped Shane up. And it was all sincere, too, which made it even more confusing. “… I appreciate you standing up for me. Yoba knows I won’t stand up for myself.”

There was a part of Shane that hated how Ashe was wearing him down; it scared him shitless that he was letting someone past the barrier he’d erected around himself. And yet, at the same time, he couldn’t keep himself from letting it happen, however reluctantly it was.


	3. June 1st

Summers in the valley were always hot and humid, especially in Pelican Town thanks to its proximity to the ocean. It could get quite miserable during the peak of the season, especially for those who weren’t used to the climate—and especially when the season opened up on a scorcher like it did this year. 

Yet work on a farm waited for no man, and there was much work to be done in preparing Ashe’s fields for the summer crops; with the money he’d earned during spring, he was able to expand his fields and plant more for a (hopefully) bigger harvest come the end of summer. Even if it meant working himself to the bone, he was determined to expand.

It was for that reason that it was quite late in the day by the time he dropped by Marnie’s Ranch; he was a regular face there by that point, and Marnie couldn’t help but be relieved when he finally came trudging in through the door.

“Goodness, I was starting to wonder if something happened.” She commented with a laugh as Ashe carefully shut the door behind him. “You’re usually so punctual on the weekends. I guess it’s been a busy day for you, huh?”

“You could say that.” Ashe made his way over to the counter where Marnie spent her time during business hours and set a basket filled with flowers from his spring harvest on top. “Here, I brought these for you and Jas to thank you for being so patient with me last season.”

“Oh, my goodness.” Marnie got up from the stool she had been knitting away on to look at the basket properly. “These are beautiful, Ashe. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’d been farming for years.”

Her praise made Ashe turn red from embarrassment. “I’m glad you think so…” He mumbled with a bashful smile, clasping his hands behind his back and hunching his shoulders as he tucked his chin against his chest. Marnie was like the town mother in a way, not the least of which because she had taken in both Jas and Shane when she realized they needed help. For Ashe, she very quickly filled a void that he was desperate to make whole again. Jas, on the other hand, was much like her godfather—slow to warm up to him, and wary of someone she didn’t know. “Is Shane here? I have some questions for him about chickens.”

“Oh, are you planning on getting some soon?” There was a hopeful tone to Marnie’s voice as she spoke; as a livestock seller, a majority of her income came from selling cattle, poultry and the like, and it would be a real boon to have another client.

“Mmhm. Well, I’m hoping to.” Ashe twisted his torso back and forth slightly. Since he’d spent all his money on buying seeds to plant, he’d have to scrape together the funds for a coop from fishing. Maybe on a rainy day he’d finally take a look inside the mines and see if it was worth the risk going in there… “It’ll be awhile yet, but I want to be prepared. Shane would never let me hear the end of it if I didn’t do things right.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” Marnie couldn’t help but laugh; there were few things in life that Shane was crazy over, and one of those things was chickens—she had an inkling that her nephew knew more about raising hens than she herself did. It was just a shame that he was letting that talent and knowledge go to waste. “In any case, yes, he’s here. He hasn’t left his room all day, the lazy bones.”

Hearing that made Ashe just a little bit concerned. “I wonder if the change in weather’s making him feel ill…” He murmured, bringing the crook of his index finger to his lips in quiet thought. “I definitely didn’t feel too good when I woke up this morning.”

“I feel ya, kiddo.” Marnie agreed. “That’s pretty par for the course here in the valley, though. You’ll get used to it, I’m sure. Anyway, why don’t you go see if you can rouse him? It’s way past time for his butt to get up.”

“Ah, sure.” It felt a little weird, but Ashe really did want to talk to Shane, so he only somewhat reluctantly agreed to the suggestion.

The shop was also their home, with the store area set up in the entryway and living spaces on either side; to the left was a storage area which also led to Jas’ room, directly behind the counter was the door to Marnie’s room, and to the right was the kitchen/living area and Shane’s room. It was the kind of house that had quite clearly seen many years, with worn wooden floorboards that creaked and protested with each footstep Ashe took across them as he made his way to Shane’s bedroom.

As he came to stand before the beaten door—it almost looked as though it had seen a punch or two in its time—he could faintly hear the sound of a TV playing inside, with what sounded like some kind of sports game announcer speaking away in such a muffled voice that it was impossible to make any words out. “Knock-knock.” Ashe called, lightly rapping on the door with his knuckles three times, assuming that Shane was awake since the TV was on. He took a step backwards and waited; after half a minute, there still hadn’t been any response. “Um…. Shane?”

He knocked again, a bit louder—this time, his knocking was enough to push the unlatched door ajar, and Ashe was hit with a wave of booze-scented, humid air as it rushed out through the small crack it had made. Hesitantly, he pushed the door open further, until he was able to step inside. His eyes widened as they fell upon Shane’s motionless form lying helter-skelter across his beer can strewn floor, as though he’d just crumpled like wet paper in the middle of what looked like a serious binge—the smell of alcohol in the air was intense and a little overwhelming. “Shane!”

The sight was enough to make him all but yell as a brief panic gripped him, and he darted towards where his friend lay, dropping to his knees beside him; hearing Ashe’s shout, Marnie immediately hustled as quickly as she could their way, flicking the light switch on in the dark room to illuminate it as Ashe cradled Shane’s head in his hands, lightly smacking his cheeks in an attempt to rouse him. “Oh dear…”

She wished that she could pretend this was the first time this had happened. Oh, how _badly_ she wished she could say that of her nephew. But her heart couldn’t lie, wouldn’t let her deny the fact that this had happened before, and even though she was concerned, she couldn’t bring herself to act surprised anymore. She made her way over, looking down at Shane with a face filled with pain and disappointment. “He’s out cold…”

“…” Ashe let go of Shane’s head and took hold of his shoulders, giving him a vigorous shake in the hopes that it would wake him up; when that failed, he reached into the messenger-style bag that he wore, grabbed hold of his trusty watering can, and proceeded to hold it over his friend’s head and turn it upside down, dumping the contents unceremoniously onto Shane’s face.

It was nothing if not effective; with a snort and a grunt, Shane jerked his head up, blearily opening his bloodshot eyes. “Mmup, mmup!!” He muttered incoherently, quickly pushing himself to sit up as Ashe let out a sigh of relief. It was clear that, while he was still quite inebriated, the shock of the cold water hitting his face was enough to sober him up quite a bit.

The TV which had still been playing in the background abruptly went quiet, as Marnie shut the device off. “What is the _matter_ with you?” She asked in exasperation, setting the remote on top of the TV and turning to face her nephew as he cradled his aching head in his hands. “All you do anymore is mope around your room and drink beer!”

Her words made Shane tense up a little, his face crumpling up in frustration and shame as he turned away from his aunt and Ashe. “You wouldn’t understand…” He mumbled, his well-built frame beginning to quiver just a little.

Marnie and Ashe exchanged a brief look. “I’m worried…” The portly woman murmured, voicing Ashe’s very same thoughts. It was clear that Shane was struggling, and needed help, but he either didn’t want help, or didn’t care enough to seek it. And that was painful for them to see. “What’s your plan?” She prodded, feeling no small amount of frustration at Shane’s slow spiraling descent. “Don’t you ever think about the future?”

Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do; maybe she should have been more supportive and understanding. But after so many years of trying to hold their broken family together, she was reaching the end of her rope.

“Plan?” Shane let his hands fall from his head into his lap with a defeated, hollow laugh as he looked to the wall, where pictures of him in high school and college hung—pictures of him playing gridball, reaching nationals, earning his diploma, holding a baby Jas with the biggest tearful grin on his face as her parents looked on with smiles. They might as well have been pictures of a different person, and in a sense, they were. “Hopefully I won’t be around long enough to need a ‘plan’…”

The sound of a broken-hearted sob broke the tense, heavy air; unbeknownst to any of them, a worried Jas had been watching the scene unfold from the doorway, her large amethyst eyes glistening with tears as she listened to her beloved godfather outright say that he wanted to die. Realizing that she had heard him, Shane instantly regretted voicing that desire, his eyes widening as he realized how badly he’d just fucked up. “Jas… I’m sorr—!”

Before he could finish speaking, Jas turned on her heels and ran out, the sound of her wails echoing through the hall and breaking all of their hearts. As Marnie went after her, Shane grabbed at the sides of his head, hunching over as he let out a barely repressed yell of frustration. Why was he such a worthless piece of shit? Why couldn’t he pull himself together, if not for anything else but that little girl who he promised to look after? Jas deserved so much better than him… 

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, stopping him from spiraling down any further; lifting his head a little, he looked to Ashe, who was still sitting by his side; though he didn’t say a word out loud, his eyes spoke a thousand words to Shane in the brief moment that they locked together. Ashe was neither condemning nor condoning what he’d said or done, he wasn’t shaming him for being a useless drunk, and he wasn’t trying to pretend that it was all okay. He was just… there, refusing to let Shane slip any deeper into that dark pit of self-loathing and pity.

“Ashe…” It might have been the first time that Shane had actually used the kid’s name. “… I think I need to be alone right now.” He mumbled, looking away as he wiped some dried drool from the corner of his mouth. “Please.”

He expected Ashe to ignore his request, as he always did; to his surprise, however, Ashe just nodded, giving Shane’s shoulder a gentle squeeze before he got to his feet. “You know where to find me if you need to talk.” He reminded, tucking his watering can back into his bag and giving Shane a half-wave in farewell.

It was a pair of such simple gestures—the honoring his request, and the offer of support. Despite that… “I appreciate it.” Shane’s voice was quiet and filled with shame, but the words were true. He felt like the kid’s kindness was wasted on him, though…


	4. June 4th

With the weight of what had transpired a few days ago still fresh in Shane’s mind, he was determined to do what he could to make up for it today, Jas’ eighth birthday. Even with all his failures and him spending most of his paychecks on booze, he’d saved enough to get her a new Welwick Court doll. He didn’t really know much about kids’ toys, but he did know that Jas loved the Welwick dolls, and he’d gone through her collection to make sure that he didn’t get one she already had.

It wasn’t near enough to make up for everything he’d put her through, he knew that. He knew that if he had even an ounce of restraint and saved up his money, he could have gotten her more than just one present—if he had his life together, he could have gotten her a dozen gifts, taken her out to Zuzu city for a day of fun and shopping because he would have remembered to put in for the day off in advance, and actually been the godfather that he was supposed to be. But this was the best he could do. It was _all_ he could do.

The day at Joja-Mart seemed to drag on even more than it usually did; when 5 PM finally rolled around, Shane clocked out, grabbing the gift he’d messily wrapped from his locker and tucked it into his jacket. He’d make a quick pit stop at the saloon on his way home, pick up some pizza for Jas’ birthday dinner and have a drink to help settle his anxiety while it was cooking, and be back at the ranch by 5:30. Plenty of time to celebrate the squirt’s birthday with her and Marnie.

As his feet carried him down the road away from that hell-mart, his thoughts meandered as they often did, filling his mind with fantasies about what life would be like if he didn’t work at Joja, if he hadn’t torn his ACL playing gridball, if he hadn’t dropped out of college. It was almost unbelievable that once upon a time, he had potential to actually make something of his life. He could have been a fullback for the Tunnelers if he hadn’t blown out his knee…

“On your way home?”

Pausing at the sound of Ashe’s voice, Shane took his eyes away from the ground where he had been looking and saw the petite farmboy standing a bit further down the road, covered in dirt—it looked like he’d had quite the day on the farm, to say the least.

“No, I’m walking to my second job at the other Joja-mart.” Shane snorted quietly, coming to a stop before the youth. “But yeah, actually, I am.” He admitted after a moment; after what had happened on the first, he couldn’t bring himself to be as cold and mean as he had used to be with the kid, especially not since Ashe was still treating him like a friend. “Today’s Jas’ birthday, so I’m just gonna stop by the saloon and pick up a pizza or two to bring back.”

“Ah, I thought so!” Ashe clapped his hands together in delight and reached into his bag. “I was so busy on the farm today that I didn’t have the chance to stop by and say hello before the shop closed… Would you mind giving this to her and wishing her a happy birthday for me?” As he spoke, he pulled a bubblegum pink pinkcat flower out and held it out to Shane with a smile.

Shane gave it a thought for a second. “… Nope. Give it to her yourself.” He commented as he began to walk again, not wanting to keep Jas waiting longer than necessary. She could get pretty hangry if dinner was even just a little bit late. 

“Eh–?” Confused, Ashe turned around to watch him go. “But… the shop’s closed–?”

“So?” Shane stopped again to look back at him, jerking his head to indicate for Ashe to follow him. “I’m saying come back with me, ya dingus. Marnie won’t care, she likes you well enough.”

It took a few seconds for Ashe to realize what Shane said; slowly, the biggest smile lit up his face. “Okay~!”

“You’re so fucking slow sometimes.” Shane shook his head and shoved his hands into his pockets as he began to walk once more, with Ashe hastening to catch up. “I still don’t get why you keep bothering with an asshole like me. Shouldn’t you be hanging out with people your age, like Sebastian or Abigail?”

To be honest, it was a question he’d had in his mind for awhile now. While it was true that most of his time was spent stocking those damn shelves, he’d never really seen Ashe spend time with the youngers of the valley—he was always busy with something or other, and what little free time he had seemed to be spent bugging Shane or doing favors for the townsfolk. Sometimes, just _watching_ Ashe flit about like a hummingbird made Shane feel tired. 

“Mmm…” A contemplative look came onto Ashe’s face at the question. “I talk to them on the computer during the evenings… it’s kind of embarrassing to admit, but most of the time I have trouble connecting with them.” He looked to Shane with a shrug of his shoulders and an airheaded smile. “Not so much with Sebastian, we actually talk a lot over chat. Sam’s easy enough to talk to because he’s so easygoing, too. Abigail’s nice, but I have trouble keeping up with her sometimes…”

“That so?” It struck Shane as Ashe talked that he really didn’t know much of anything about the kid. “I figured it would be the opposite since you’re such a nosy bugaboo. Guess that means you have nothing to do with Alex or Haley, huh?”

“Not really, no.” Ashe agreed with a vigorous shake of his head. “Haley doesn’t even acknowledge my existence. Alex at least will say hello, but… Oh, I do sometimes talk to Penny. Not very often, though, since she’s usually busy with tutoring.” There was also Emily, but he didn’t need to say anything, since Shane knew how the two of them got on since she worked evenings at the saloon, and Elliot, who was going through one of his rare inspiration phases and had barely left his cabin since spring started.

“What’s stopping you from doing what you did to me to them?” Shane gave Ashe the stink-eye. “I’ve got half a mind to make you go and bother them until you make friends. Kids like you shouldn’t be bothering with old farts like me.”

Defeated, Ashe just gave him another smile and laughed meekly, and Shane looked forward again with a quiet snort. It was an empty threat, honestly, though he _was_ surprised to hear that a cheerful, personable person like Ashe couldn’t connect with people in his age group. He found that hard to believe, but Ashe didn’t seem the type to lie, not about something so trivial at least.

With pizza and 2-liters of soda in hand after a quick stop at the saloon, the pair took the southwest road out of town and made their way to the ranch. Struggling a little to open the front door since his hands were full, Shane let them in; as expected, the shop was empty, and they could hear Jas’ excited chattering coming from the kitchen. “Shh, this’ll be a surprise.” He whispered to Ashe, who nodded his head in silent agreement.

“Aunt Marnie, when is Shane gonna be home?” Jas asked, sitting at the table and swinging her legs restlessly as she colored away in her Welwick courts coloring book; it was hard being patient, especially as a kid, and especially _especially_ as a kid on your birthday. But she’d been extra super good that day in the hopes that it would mean she’d have a good evening.

“I’m not sure, sweetie.” Marnie kept her back turned to Jas as she spoke, putting the finishing touches on the birthday cake as she tried not to let her smile come through in her voice; she certainly hoped that her nephew could pass up the saloon for one day and come home early, and she hated that she honestly didn’t know what he would end up doing. “I’m sure that he’ll be back soon. He at least said he was going to get some pizza, and I don’t think he’d keep the birthday girl waiting for her dinner.”

“… Is he gonna be drunk?” Jas’ legs stopped swinging, her voice becoming quiet and almost somber; at the counter, Marnie paused in her icing. “I don’t like it when he drinks… and he always seems unhappy. Why does he drink if he doesn’t like it?”

They were difficult words to hear from a little girl. And what made it even harder was that Marnie simply didn’t have an answer to give—not the kind of answer that Jas wanted, at least. “I wish I could say, kiddo.” She turned to look at her young charge with a sympathetic smile. “But that’s something only Shane can answer.”

As expected, Jas struggled to understand why Marnie didn’t have the answer. Before she could prod her aunt any further, however, Shane loudly cleared his throat, announcing his and Ashe’s presence. “I have a large cheese pizza for a Ms. Jas.”

“Shane!” Jas twisted around in her seat to look at her godfather, her face lighting up at his presence; despite it all, it was clear that she adored him more than anything in the whole world. The delight on her face was replaced by surprise as she saw Ashe poke his head out from behind Shane—the hallway was rather on the narrow side, and there was no room for him to stand beside the man. “Mr. Ashe? How come you’re here too?”

“Well, I heard it was a certain someone’s birthday today~” Ashe smiled as Shane stepped fully into the kitchen, setting the pizza down on the table and flipping the box open to reveal its ooey gooey cheesy contents. “I just wanted to wish you a very happy birthday, Jas. I didn’t know what all to get you, so…” He held the flower out to the girl. “It’s not much, but I bet it’d look very pretty if you pressed it in a book.”

Jas’ eyes widened even more as she carefully accepted the brightly colored flower. “Thank you…” She didn’t expect him to get her a gift.

“You’re welcome~” Ashe raised his hand in farewell and turned to leave. “I’ll let you all have your evening, then. Bye~”

“What, you’re not going to stay for some pizza and cake?” Marnie inquired, giving Ashe pause. “Come on, sit and relax for a spell.”

“Ah… are you sure?” Ashe turned back to look at the family, uncertainty written on his face. “I don’t want to impose on a day like today.” His expression shifted to one of meekness as he looked down to his dirt-covered self. “And I’m such a mess right now, I—”

“Mr. Ashe?” Jas interrupted, looking from the flower to Ashe with her large, expressive eyes. “If you don’t stay, there’s gonna be a lot of leftovers. Even Shane can’t eat _this_ much pizza.”

“Hey, what are you trying to say there squirt?” Shane pretended to look offended by her comment. “Well, you heard the birthday girl. Might as well, right?”

Momentarily overwhelmed, Ashe looked to Marnie for confirmation; the portly woman smiled and nodded, reaching up into the cupboards to get an extra plate for their guest. “… I guess if Jas wants me to, I don’t have a choice~” He admitted with a sheepish smile.

It felt just a little strange to him, to be sitting with the little family as they ate their way through as much of the massive pizza as they could, but it wasn’t an unwelcome sort of strange. It almost felt like… he had a family again, a feeling that he thought he wouldn’t get to experience again. It was bittersweet.

“Mr. Ashe, how come you decided to be a farmer?” Jas asked, once the pizza had been demolished and the cake polished off (no matter how stuffed you were, there was _always_ room for cake). Still at the table with Ashe and Shane while Marnie cleared away the dishes, she was quite happily playing with the new doll that was Shane’s gift to her, though it didn’t stop her from being the inquisitive child that she was.

The question caught Ashe off-guard. “Well…” He looked thoughtful as he tried to think of the best way to answer her question. “I just needed a change.” He finally answered after several moments of contemplation. “Before my grandpa died, he gave me an envelope and told me to open it when the time was right. I didn’t know it at the time, of course, but it was the deed to his farm.” He smiled merrily. “I worked at a Joja office for awhile, and then I got tired of being an adult and came to be a farmer instead~”

“You worked for Joja?” Shane couldn’t hide the surprise in his voice, lifting his head up from where he’d been resting it against his hand to look at the kid with raised brows. “When? You look like you just barely graduated high school.”

“Never judge a book by its cover~” Ashe chimed, looking carefree as ever—yet for some reason, Shane got the feeling that this time, that happy go lucky attitude was fake. “I didn’t even finish high school.”

Jas’ jaw hit the floor. “You didn’t? Why? Didn’t you like school?”

“Oh, absolutely.” Ashe nodded his head vigorously. “I _loved_ school.” His smile softened just a little, and for a moment, it almost seemed to become melancholy. “But sometimes, you have to do things that you don’t want to do.” And just like that, he was back to his normal self, giving Jas a big ol’ grin. “And then later down the road, you might be able to do things you want to do again.”

His words gave the little girl quite a lot to think about, as she tried to stifle a yawn behind her hand. “Alright, little missy.” Marnie turned around as she dried her hands on a rag, as though she had eyes in the back of her head that saw it. “It’s way past your bedtime. Come along now, let’s pick out a book to read.”

“Awww…” Jas pouted, her attempt to stay up later duly foiled. “Okay…”

“G’night, squirt.” Shane bid, watching as his aunt led Jas out of the kitchen towards her room; as soon as the two were out of earshot, he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the tabletop and burying his face in his hands as he let out the heaviest sigh. Somehow, he’d managed to hold himself together after catching Jas’ comment about him drinking; it had taken everything he had in that moment not to turn and walk right back out the door, her words unintentionally crushing his already crumbling heart.

“Shane…?” Ashe gently touched the man’s arm; he of course had heard what Jas had said, too, and seen the way that Shane’s face had fallen, even if it was just for a moment. “You okay?”

For a long minute, Shane didn’t answer. “No, I’m not okay.” He finally mumbled, curling his fingers to dig his nails into his skin. “I’m a fucking wreck and I can’t even pull myself together for Jas.”

He wouldn’t say it, but hearing how even Ashe had taken control of his life only amplified Shane’s feelings of shame and self-hatred. Here was a kid who by all rights should be out having the time of his life but instead chose to work one of the most grueling, laborious jobs out there, all on his own, without so much as a single complaint. And then there was Shane, still living with his aunt, working a dead-end job that he hated with no savings, no future and no ambitions.

“…” Ashe scooted a little closer, putting his arm around Shane’s shoulders in a sort of semi-hug; abruptly, Shane knocked his arm off, leaning away from the farmer to make sure he couldn’t do it again.

It wasn’t that the gesture wasn’t appreciated. It was that it was so unexpected, and Shane was in such a bad place, that he couldn’t accept it, and his first instinct was to violently reject it before he had a chance to realize how much he needed that kind of support.

Of course, he wasn’t able to verbalize this to Ashe, whose arm fell back to his side, his eyes widening as he realized that he went too far. “S-Sorry.” The farmer apologized. “… I think it’s time I headed home.” He murmured, not wanting to overstay his welcome any longer. “Thank you for inviting me over, Shane.”

Shane couldn’t even bring himself to acknowledge Ashe’s gratitude, burying his face deeper into his hands; he listened to the sound of Ashe’s boot heels as he headed down the hall towards the front door, and could faintly hear him bid a farewell to Marnie and Jas on his way out. The whole time, his shoulders were shaking, his chin quivering as he scrunched up his face in a desperate attempt to keep the tears in his eyes from overflowing. He didn’t even have it in him to treat the person who had gone out of his way to befriend him with the smallest amount of decency…


	5. June 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Suicidal thoughts/allusions to attempted suicide

Across the winding river that ran through the Cindersap forest south of Marnie’s ranch was a long line of sheer cliff faces overlooking the vast Gem Sea. Down at the ocean level, violent waves crashed up against the cliffs, spraying foam high up into the air; on some days, when the sea was particularly turbulent, the spray could be seen over the cliffs. 

It was the kind of place where if you were to fall, or jump, or simply just walk off the edge, it would more than likely be fatal; if the spiky rocks that jutted up out from the water didn’t end you, then the current would surely carry you far out to sea and finish the job. This was especially true where the river met the ocean via a raging waterfall—the force of the falling water alone would be enough to pull you under and crush you. A slow, agonizing death.

More and more lately, Shane had made the trip through the forest to that very spot, overlooking that shimmering, endless ocean. The idea was always there, in the back of his head, quietly nagging at him so that he could never truly ignore it. After last night, that idea had moved to the forefront of his mind.

Surrounded by three empty six-packs and countless beer cans, he laid sprawled out on the ground, staring up at the thundercloud-filled sky as a heavy, warm rain soaked him. He was so drunk that he couldn’t even feel the wetness of his clothes as they clung to him, the chill of the wind as it blustered over him. But no matter how many beers he had, he couldn’t numb the pain in his heart anymore. He’d even went through a fifth of vodka in the hopes that it would take him to that state of inebriated serenity that he always sought, but nothing helped. Nothing helped.

Nothing could keep Jas’ voice out of his head, repeating what she had asked Marnie the night before. _‘Is he gonna be drunk? I don’t like it when he drinks…’_

And then Marnie’s voice would follow. _‘What’s your plan?’_ She had asked that day when he’d passed out in his room. _‘Don’t you ever think about the future?’_

No matter what he did, he always seemed to end up hurting the ones he cared about. Even when he tried to do something good, his damn dependance on alcohol ruined everything. It had ruined _him_. And he had let it, because he didn’t have the strength or willpower to change anything. Everything had gone downhill when Jas’ parents died, and the only comfort he had during those dark days was alcohol. Now, all it did was make him even more fucked up than he was, without numbing any of the pain…

An umbrella appeared above him, shielding his face from the pouring rain; blinking the mix of tears and rain from his eyes, Shane squinted up, until Ashe’s face came swimming into view. He was so wasted that he hadn’t heard the farm boy come to stand near his head, looking down to Shane with a quiet expression of concern. “Ashe…” He mumbled, struggling to make a coherent sound come out of his mouth. This time, he didn’t have it in him to push the kid away. He didn’t have anything left in him anymore.

Wordlessly, Ashe sat down, keeping the umbrella held over Shane to protect him from the rain even as he himself became soaked by it. As their eyes met, Shane felt another wave of regret and shame wash over him, mixed with the feeling of nausea from the amount of alcohol he’d consumed. He had done everything in his power to push his only friend away, and even now, he was still there. No judgement, no pressure; even with his pushiness to get Shane to open up to him, he never actually _forced_ him to, and when Shane really needed him to, he backed off. He was a true friend, and Shane had done nothing for him in return. So, then why…? Why was he here now? Why was he sitting out in this storm, just for him?

“I….” Shane could feel a lump in his throat as he tried to talk again. “I’m sorry…. I’m so fucking sorry….” A strong gust of wind blew, and Ashe instinctively doubled his grip on the umbrella to keep it from blowing away. “M…. my life…. It’s a pathetic joke…. Look at me…” Fresh hot tears stung at his eyes, cascading unchecked down his cheeks and into his ears as he sobbed, “Why do I even try….?”

Another flash of lightning lit up the sky just overhead, followed by a crack of thunder that they could feel in their chests. It was as though mother nature herself was hurting for her child.

Through the tears, Shane continued, his voice breaking and shaking as he tried in vain to steady it. “I’m too small and stupid to… to take control of my life…. I’m just a p… piece of soiled garbage flittering in the wind…” For a long minute, he fell silent, as though waiting to see if Ashe would respond. But Ashe remained silent, continuing to look down at Shane as he waited for him to speak again. “… I’ve been coming here often lately… looking down…” He admitted, wanting to close his eyes so he didn’t have to look up at that gentle face but being unable to do so. “Here’s a chance to finally take control of my life… These cliffs…”

For some reason, saying it out loud filled him with a terrifying fear. But maybe… maybe he’d felt that fear all along, and just didn’t realize it until he was saying it to someone who would be impacted if he actually did what he’d wanted to do. “B… bu….” His chin quivered, his face scrunching up slightly. “But I’m too scared, too anxious. Just like always…”

Silence again fell, broken only by the crashing waves, the roaring wind, the rumbling thunder, the _plink plink_ of the rain on the surface of the river.

“Ashe…. All I do is work, sleep, and drink… t… to dull the feelings of self-hatred. Why should I even go on?” The lump in Shane’s throat was painful, pointy and sharp as he openly wept. “T…. Tell me why I shouldn’t roll off this cliff right now…”

It wasn’t a rhetorical question. He was begging, pleading for Ashe to give him an answer. For anyone to give him an answer, a reason to continue this pathetic excuse of an existence. It was cruel for him to ask such a thing of his friend, but he didn’t know what else to do. And he didn’t even know what kind of answer he was hoping for.

“….” Ashe shifted closer, gently resting Shane’s head on his lap so the tears wouldn’t keep going into his ears. “The decision is your own.” He murmured, using his other hand to brush Shane’s rain-soaked bangs from his face as he spoke. “Just know that I’m here for you.”

 _I’m here for you_. Despite it all, despite him seeing Shane at his absolute lowest, Ashe was still there. No matter what choice Shane made, he would support him.

Hearing that reaffirmation made the lump become even bigger. “I… I appreciate that. I really do, Ashe…” He admitted, finding comfort in the feeling of warmth radiating from Ashe’s body. He fell silent again for a few moments before speaking once more. “… I… need help, Ashe… I need help…. Please help me….”

As the words were uttered, the umbrella slipped from Ashe’s hand, carried away on the wind out to the ocean. It was so hard to admit that he needed help. It was painful, and humiliating, and selfish. But… he felt like he could trust Ashe enough to ask for it of him.

“Then let’s get you some help.” Ashe answered, shifting to sit Shane up so he could get him to his feet. He couldn’t put into words how relieved he was to hear those words…

The sound of the wind and rain was muffled by the walls of the clinic; the storm had only seemed to intensify as Ashe had all but carried Shane into town, with little hard hailstones coming down by the time they got inside. Harvey had taken one look at Shane before whisking him into the back, leaving Ashe to sit in the waiting room, shivering as he waited for any word on his friend’s condition.

Afer what felt like an eternity, Harvey finally stepped through the swinging door into the waiting room, carrying a thin white blanket and a cup of hot coffee. “I’ve pumped his stomach and re-hydrated his body.” He explained, handing both to Ashe to help warm him up and dry him off. “He’s going to be okay. It’s good that you brought him in, though.”

“Thank Yoba…” Ashe wrapped the blanket around himself tightly and held the warm styrofoam cup in his numb hands. “Can I see him?” Even with what Harvey had just said, he wanted to see it with his own eyes that Shane was going to be okay.

“Of course.” Harvey nodded and gestured for Ashe to follow, leading him into the back recovery area; an unconscious Shane lay on the bed in the furthest corner, his soaked clothes hanging up by the heater to dry. Even despite the doctor’s efforts to clear the air, the scent of putrid alcohol still lingered from the stomach pumping. “Too much alcohol is terrible for the body…. But right now, I’m most worried about his mental health.”

Wordlessly, Ashe reached out, gently touching Shane’s cheek; it was warm against his cold fingertips, offering a sense of relief to him. “Me too…” He murmured, letting his hand fall back to his side. “… Dr. Harvey, please help him.” He looked to the doctor, unable to hide his own tears any longer. “Help him, because I don’t know how to. Please…! Help him stop hurting…!”

For how hard he had pushed for Shane to rely on him, for how often he kept telling Shane that he was there for him, he didn’t know how to give him the help he needed. He didn’t even know if what he had been doing the whole time was the right thing. He just wanted Shane to get better—not just physically, but mentally.

Seeing Ashe’s reaction, Harvey picked up a box of tissues and offered it to him. “When he comes to, I’ll have a chat with him about his treatment options.” He assured, as Ashe tugged a couple from the box and used them to stem the flow of tears from his eyes. “I know an excellent counselor in Zuzu City.” Looking back to Shane, who finally had an expression of peace on his face as he slept, he continued, “Life can be painful, sometimes… But there’s always hope for a better future. You’ve got to believe in that.”

A better future. That’s all that anyone could ever strive towards, wasn’t it? Life was just an endless pursuit of something better, something always just out of reach. When hope was lost of ever achieving that goal, that was really what could be considered ‘death’… “Yeah….” Ashe agreed with a sniffle, looking back to Shane as a heavy sigh escaped him.

He wanted Shane to start living again. More than anything in the world—more than winning back his grandpa’s farm, even, he wanted Shane to find that hope again.

Though the storm carried on well into the night, the next morning greeted Pelican Town with sunshine and a brilliant, clear blue sky. It had been a restless night for Ashe, though, who barely slept at all, unable to make his brain shut down long enough to rest. He knew that Harvey knew what he was doing, but that didn’t stop him from worrying.

“Sorry, Blue…” He apologized to the cat that he had adopted not long after he’d moved in, running his fingers slowly over the long orange fur that covered the animal’s body. “I guess neither of us got much sleep, huh?”

Blue had been his great companion on the farm. The most laid back and chill cat Ashe had ever met, he was much more like a dog, actively seeking out affection from Ashe and following him around as he worked the farmland. He even liked to play fetch from time to time, when he wasn’t lounging out in the sunlight of course. Even despite the rough night, he climbed up onto Ashe’s chest, lightly butting his head against the farmer’s chin almost in response to Ashe’s apology.

“Haha, you’re too patient with me.” Ashe spent a few moments scratching at Blue’s cheeks before he got up, against the protests of his sleep deprived body. He’d learned quickly that the best solution to exhaustion was to get up and moving, no matter how difficult it was. “Let’s get some breakfast going.”

He said ‘breakfast’, but he really just meant toast for himself and fish for Blue; money was really tight for him right now, meaning that he was really having to stretch what he had. He’d gone and spent all that hard-earned money on seeds, only to wake up on the fourth to find his fields completely trashed from a pack of roaming raccoons. All he could do was salvage as much as possible and use other money-making methods to buy more seeds. It was a setback, but he refused to let it hold him back for long. Despite that, he refused to skimp out on Blue’s food, since there was no reason for the cat to suffer too.

“I wonder if Shane’s awake yet…” He pondered aloud to himself, leaning against the counter as he waited for the bread to toast; Blue jumped up onto the countertop and rubbed against his hand, earning himself more petting as Ashe let his mind wander to Shane. “… I hope he’s okay….”

A knock at the door made him jump—for a moment, he’d thought it was the toaster going off sooner than expected, a minor fright which at least helped to wake him up. “Ah, just a second!” He called, traipsing hastily to the door and undoing the locks so he could open it. Who on earth could it be at this hour, he wondered.

As he pulled the door open, his eyes fell upon Shane, who stood on his front porch with his hands shoved in his pockets and a somewhat meek expression on his face. “Hey…” He mumbled, unable to quite look Ashe in the eye just yet; fidgeting a little, he looked away, bringing one hand up to rub the back of his neck as he exhaled slowly. “Oh man… uh… how do I say this?” He struggled with finding the words for a few more seconds, eventually forcing himself to look Ashe in the eye. “I’m really sorry about what happened at the cliffs. That was… embarrassing…”

It almost felt surreal for Ashe, who stood there motionless with his eyes widened slightly at the sight of Shane. He hadn’t expected Shane to be back on his feet so quickly, let alone for him to seek him out to apologize. “…..” His chin quivered a little, and before he could stop himself, he threw his arms around the man, hugging him tight in a gesture that caught Shane off-guard. “I’m just really happy you’re still here.”

“… It was that serious, huh?” Shane felt a twinge of guilt, hearing that from Ashe; unlike before, he made no move to push him away this time, though he didn’t move to return the hug either. He wasn’t quite up to that, yet. “I can hardly remember…” And that was true; there wasn’t much about that whole day he could recall. There was one thing, however; he could clearly recall Ashe’s presence there.

Letting go of Shane after a few moments, Ashe stepped back, his eyes just a little misty as he smiled happily. “Here, come inside.” He offered, holding the door open for his friend; looking a bit hesitant, Shane eventually accepted, stepping into the small home so they could continue to talk. The toast in the toaster was done, and Ashe poured them each a cup of coffee, sharing a stack of browned bready goodness with butter as they sat down at the table.

“I’ve decided I want to see a therapist.” Shane admitted, holding his cup in both hands as his bad knee jittered up and down anxiously. “Harvey got me in touch with a colleague of his. I want to actually get better…” He looked down into the dark liquid, tightening his grip on the mug slightly. “I want to be the kind of godfather that Jas deserves, and I can’t do that when I’m drinking. So I’m going to give up booze for good.”

Hearing that put another smile on Ashe’s face… and an idea into his head. “Then so will I.” He said, leaning forward in his chair as his smile widened. “I won’t drink anymore, either.”

“H-Hey—” Shane jerked his head up to look at Ashe in bewilderment. “You don’t have to do that. This is my problem, not yours.”

“I want to support you.” Ashe continued to smile cheerily, making Shane’s protests die in his throat. “That’s what friends do for each other~” He was quiet for a moment, before softly admitting, “Though, it’s really not the same for me to give up alcohol, is it…. So, how about this?” Holding out his pinky finger to Shane, he continued, “I’ll give up eating chocolate cornets, too. That way, we’re both getting clean in some regard. We can help keep each other in check, and vent to one another when the cravings get really bad.”

“…..” Shane didn’t quite know what to say; he knew what a bad sweet tooth Ashe had for Gus’ cornets, so for him to willingly give them up just to support him was…. “… You really know how to twist my arm, don’t you?” He asked, reaching his own pinky out and gently locking the two digits together in a promise. “I dunno why you’d want to make yourself miserable, but I’m not gonna stop you.” His face softened a little, unable to remain hardened against that dumb merry smile. “Anway… I wanted to thank you for taking care of me.” He said, once they’d let go of one another’s pinkies. “For whatever reason, you’ve stuck by me since you got here. I know I’ve never said it before, but… I really appreciate you being my friend, Ashe.”

It was the second time in as many days that he was honest with his words. It was terrifying, in a sense, to let down his guard like this and make himself vulnerable, but he understood now that if he wanted to get better, he was going to have to step out of his comfort zone.

His gratitude just made Ashe beam even more. “I’m happy that I get to be your friend~” He chimed cheerily, as though it truly was the highlight of his life that Shane had finally accepted his friendship. It baffled Shane, but he’d kind of figured out by that point that Ashe was weird and not like other kids his age. And maybe that was what he liked so much about the kid.

Curious as to who this stranger in his house was, Blue jumped up onto the table and came right up to Shane, his tail raised inquisitively as his little wet nose touched the man’s hand to sniff him. “…. I didn’t know you had a cat.” Shane commented, somewhat caught off-guard by Blue’s sudden interjection.

“Oh yeah.” Ashe laughed, as Blue decided that he liked Shane and proceeded to lightly paw his hand in an attempt to get petted. “That’s Mr. Blue. I found him not long after I moved in here, pecked half to death. I think he tried to snuggle up in Percy’s henhouse or something and got torn up by his chickens. He doesn’t have any claws so he couldn’t protect himself, the poor thing.” 

“You sure do like making friends with lost souls, huh?” Hesitantly, Shane scratched the top of Blue’s head; he didn’t have the best experience with cats, but this one seemed alright. “Well, at least I know you’re not stuck here all by your lonesome.”

The two made idle chat for a bit longer, with Shane firmly cementing himself as Blue’s best friend thanks to the amazing skritches he gave. Eventually, once their cups were empty, Shane got up from the table. “I should get going… Marnie pulled a mama bear move and got Morris to give me today off so I could head to Zuzu City for my first counseling session—well, she doesn’t know that’s what it’s for, but that’s what it’s for, so I better not waste any time.”

“She must have put the fear of Yoba in him…” Ashe’s eyes widened at the thought of sweet, kindly Marnie putting an asshole like Morris in his place. “Be safe on your way there, okay? And I know I keep saying this, but… I’m here for you. No matter what.”

“… Yeah.” Shane nodded a little, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly. “I finally know that now. Thanks.”

It was the first step on a long, winding road to recovery; it wasn’t going to be easy, and there were going to be times where he tripped and fell and regressed. But surely, he could reach the end someday. He had to believe in that.


	6. June 17 - Part 1

“Ugh, it’s too hot to practice…” Sam groaned, as he and Sebastian walked away from Alex’s ice cream stand, cones of creamy frozen goodness in hand. “And it’s too hot to do anything else today…”

“You say the same thing every year.” Sebastian pointed out, raising a brow at Sam’s drama. “Why don’t you ever ask for an air conditioner for your birthday present? Or just save up and buy one yourself?”

Sam’s expression became quite sheepish. “Well… I know how expensive they can be, especially when it starts heating up, so I’d feel bad asking Mom to spend that kind of money.” He admitted, hastily licking up a trail of melted chocolate ice cream as it ran down the side of his cone. “And my paychecks aren’t usually that big, y’know? With what I have left after giving half to Mom for rent, I’d have to spend a whole year saving to afford one. It’s like…” He gestured with his hands, “I can either be a penny-pinching miser for something that I’ll only use for a couple of months a year, or I can have fun with my money and spend it on stuff I’ll actually use all the time, like strings for my guitar or a new amp.”

“Or you could work more than once a week.” Sebastian was deadpan in his delivery, crushing his friend just a little; it was a playful jest, of course, one meant in good fun. “Even if you picked up just one extra shift every week, it’d give you more to work with.”

“Yeah, I know…” Sam hung his head a little in defeat. “Can you blame me, though? I don’t want to work at that awful place! Even if it _does_ have air conditioning, it’s not worth it. I don’t know how Shane puts up with Morris for forty hours a week, every week.” He looked thoughtful as he took a bite, using his tongue to lick up some that got on his upper lip. “Y’know, speaking of Shane… he seems different lately. Like, he seems more… I dunno, clear-headed? Maybe it’s just me, but…”

Sebastian ran his tongue around his own ice cream to keep it from melting too quickly. “He’s stopped ordering beer when he comes to the saloon on Fridays.” He pointed out, much to Sam’s surprise. “… You didn’t notice because you never turn around when we’re playing pool.”

“Cos the last time I turned around, you hit the 8-ball into the back of my head.” Sam pouted a little; amongst their little friend group, he was definitely the most oblivious. “I wonder if he’s trying to stop drinking. If so, that’s gotta take some serious willpower.”

“Why don’t you ask Ashe and find out?” Sebastian pointed over Sam’s shoulder. “He’s right over there.” It was pretty common knowledge in town at that point that Ashe and Shane were close, so it made sense to ask a question like that of him rather than going directly to the source.

“Huh?” Sam turned around and followed Sebastian’s finger; sure enough, Ashe was heading up through the north of town, past Harvey’s and Pierre’s and up towards the mountains where the Carpenter’s was. To their surprise, he was carrying quite a large, empty burlap sack, with a pickaxe strapped across his back. “Oh, good idea. Hey, Ashe! Ashe!”

Faintly hearing his name being called, Ashe paused, looking back over his shoulder curiously. “Oh! Hey guys!” He turned around and waved, waiting as Sam and Sebastian made their way towards him. “Happy birthday Sam~ I was actually heading to the mines to get a birthday present for you.”

“Aw, that’s real nice of you.” Sam was touched by his thoughtfulness, but he couldn’t help but be concerned. “Aren’t the mines dangerous, though? I wouldn’t want you to get hurt on account of me.”

“I dunno, I bet it’s a lot of fun to go exploring in them.” Sebastian shrugged his shoulders a little. “It’s got to be more exciting than anything else you can do here in town.”

Ashe just smiled, adjusting the strap of the sack slung across him. “It can be a little dangerous, but there’s a rescue team on standby in case things go wrong. Even though they’re technically Joja employees, they’re really nice. And it’s really exciting to see what you can find down there~” An idea struck him, making him press his palms together in delight. “I know! If you guys don’t have anything else to do, why don’t you come to the mines with me? I bet we could find a whole vein of valuable gems.”

The two taller males could practically see the gold coins dancing in Ashe’s eyes at the notion. “Well… I mean, it’s better than anything else we could have thought of.” Sam admitted, glancing over to see Sebastian’s own eyes glinting a little. He knew his best friend hated the mundanity of life in Pelican Town, and was probably extremely keen on the idea. “The mines have gotta be cooler than out here, right?”

“Oh, definitely.” Ashe nodded enthusiastically. “The mines stay super cool—sometimes a little _too_ cold, but that’s when you get warmed up with some mining~”

That was enough to sell the still-reluctant Sam, whose ice cream at that point had already half-melted from the humid heat around them. “Alright, count me in. What about you, Seb?”

“Definitely.” Sebastian tossed what was left of his ice cream into the nearest trash bin as the three of them began up the path towards the north; on their way there, they passed Robin, who was on her way to Pierre’s for Caroline’s weekly aerobics class. They played off their passing casually, as Robin would definitely protest them heading into the mines if she knew what they were up to—even though she was a mother only to Sebastian, she had that motherly ability to cow any unruly teenagers if she felt like they were doing something dangerous. Since she had only just left for the class (the class that Jodi also went to every week), that gave them a solid three hours to explore before their folks got suspicious.

Right off the bat, the interior of the mines was noticeably cooler—it was easily a ten to twenty degree difference, making the trio sigh in relief. Having never really been inside the mines before, Sebastian and Sam were surprised to see a sort of ‘base camp’ setup right past the entrance—it was a small setup, to be true, with a little first aid station and a portable restroom. Usually the rescue team was comprised of two Joja employees, but that day only one was present, a mousy ginger-haired girl with huge glasses.

“Hi Ellie~” Ashe greeted as the three of them approached; the sudden sound of his voice made the meek girl practically jump out of her skin, having been so absorbed in the book she was reading that she hadn’t heard them enter the cave. “Are you working alone today?”

“A-Ah, hello Ashe…” Hastily, Ellie put down the book and fixed her now lopsided glasses, thoroughly flustered by that point. “Y-Yes, it’s just me today. You know h-how it is during the week…” Looking to the unfamiliar young men with Ashe, she asked hesitantly, “A-Are these your friends?”

“Mmhm.” Gesturing to Sebastian and Sam, Ashe introduced, “This is Sebastian, and this is Sam.”

“Hey, nice to meetcha.” Sam greeted with a friendly smile, while Sebastian raised his hand in hello. “So uh, how does this whole setup go exactly?”

Ellie got to her feet. “W-Well… You sign your name into this logbook, just so we have a record of you coming in should anything happen.” She gestured to the crate with said book on it. “Th-then we get you fitted with some safety gear and weapons, and you go off and… do your thing.” She seemed to recall something and looked to Ashe. “U-Unfortunately, you’ll have to stick with the left path; P-Percy signed in a-about an hour ago and reserved the right path for the day.”

“Drat.” Ashe scuffed the toe of his boot into the ground with a pout. “The right path is always loaded… Oh well, it can’t be helped.” It always felt like his rival was one step ahead of him; just when he thought he was catching up, Percy managed to widen the gap between them even further. “… The mines split off into two different directions.” He explained to his friends, who both looked slightly puzzled.

“F-From what we can tell,” Ellie added as she retrieved some safety gear for them to put on, “the left path is from the hey-day of the mining operation; the right path was started when the left path started running out of resources, but due to a cave-in, the whole operation was shut down before much p-progress was made, hence why it tends to be more resource-rich. B-But I’m sure you’ll be able to find plenty all the same.”

She helped the boys into the gear—nothing too grand or complex, considering it was a setup that Joja realistically made very little money on and thus had no incentive to do anything more. Helmets with headlamps, gloves, some rather dull-bladed swords. She did give Sebastian and Sam their own pickaxes, before strapping what seemed to be some kind of monitoring devices to their wrists. “Sh-Should anything happen, these alarms will send a signal to me to come get you guys. B-Be safe in there, and good luck.”

“Thanks, Ellie~” Ashe smiled merrily and proceeded onward, with Sebastian and Sam quick to follow; the path into the mines was straightforward for a short distance, before it diverted sharply into two distinct paths like a forking road. “I still can’t believe Percy beat us here.” He couldn’t help but pout, giving the right path a longing look before he led the two to the left.

“Are you really so strapped for money that you need those resources to sell?” Sebastian asked as he too came to walk beside Ashe.

“Well, not really…” Ashe admitted meekly; suddenly, a fire lit up in his eyes, and he pumped his fists in determination. “But the more money I make, the more I can improve the farm, which means more money, which means more improvements! I absolutely, absolutely, _absolutely_ have to make my farm better than Percy’s.”

Sebastian and Sam shared a look around the short male. “Why is that so important?” Sam couldn’t help but inquire slowly. It just seemed so out of character for Ashe to be so money-hungry and so competitive, when usually he was one of the friendliest folks in town.

“…” Ashe’s arms fell to his sides. “Because if I don’t, Joja will take grandpa’s farmland and turn it into factories.” He murmured, his shoulders slumping as he came to a stop.

“Joja will—wait, come again?” Sam’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “Seriously?!” 

“Mmhm.” It was all Ashe could do to simply nod his head in confirmation, leaving Sebastian and Sam somewhat speechless. “I can’t let that happen. I _won’t_ let that happen. So…” He clenched his fists for a moment, before thrusting his finger outward dramatically. “That’s why I will build a farm better than anyone’s ever seen before! And to do that, I need lots and loootsa G, so let’s get to mining!” 

It was such an abrupt about-face that it practically gave the boys whiplash. They’d had no idea of the kind of pressure that Ashe was under, but it wasn’t exactly their fault; despite how nosy the farmer could be, he was pretty tight-lipped about himself and his goings-on at the farm, as though he preferred to endure his burdens all alone. Whatever the reason was, Sam and Sebastian had gained some pretty horrific insight into just how depraved Joja was.

“What gives them the right to try and take your grandpa’s farmland?” Sam tried to press, jogging to keep up with Ashe who had picked up a quick pace in search of treasures. “That can’t be legal, they can’t just take what doesn’t belong to them cos they feel like it. And I knew Percy was kind of an ass, but I didn’t think he was a Joja stooge.” 

“It’s a long story.” Ashe seemed perfectly content to leave things at that, smiling that carefree smile of his as he marched resolutely onward. “We’re starting to get kind of deep now, so we might end up seeing a few slimes here and there. They’re harmless—actually, they’re really cute and squishy, and they seem to like attention. Sometimes, they even lead me to where a good ore vein is~”

Clearly, the boys weren’t going to get much more than that out of him; one of Ashe’s more deserved reputations was of his unyielding stubbornness. “… Wait, slimes?” Sebastian repeated, as what Ashe had just said sunk into his brain. “You mean like, the kind you fight in Dragon Quest?”

“Yup.” Ashe looked over his shoulder and grinned. “In fact, I’d say the ones in here are way cuter.”

Almost as if on cue, a little green blob bounced into view from around a large jagged boulder, its little antenna swaying too and fro as it merrily went along its way. “Oh, there’s one now!”

Completely startled by this revelation—that creatures much like the ones they’d slain in video games existed in their world, in these mines not far from town—Sam let out a startled yelp, tripping over his own feet in his haste to step back; he was, of course, horrified when dozens of the little round blobby beings popped out of nowhere and swarmed them, drawn from their hiding spots by the sound of activity and voices. Just as Ashe had said, they were completely harmless, simply bouncing uselessly off of their legs like a thrown pillow or stuffed animal would.

“…. Is this real life right now?” Sebastian crouched down and dangled one by its squishy skin; it felt kind of like mochi without the rice flour coating. The slime wriggled and squirmed a little, looking up at Sebastian with an expression of overt curiosity mixed with a desire to be freed.

The sound of Sam’s raucous laughter filled the mine; Ashe and Sebastian looked down to see the slimes practically converging on him, jumping and crawling all over him as he tried in vain to push them off. “I-It tickles when they move!!!” He wheezed, the weight of all the slimes on his upper body pinning him to the rocky ground. “D-Don’t just st-stand there! HALP!”

“Welp, RIP Sam.” Sebastian tossed the slime he was holding into the slime-pile and began to walk. “He lived a good life.”

“If we find a neat gemstone we’ll be sure to leave it on your grave~” Ashe chimed as he traipsed off with Sebastian.

“H-Hey, where are you guys going?!” Sam sputtered, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head once more—before another slime happily squished onto his face.


	7. June 17 - Part 2

Of course, they went back once the joke had run its course, if only out of pity for the guy who seemed completely incapable of getting the slimes off for fear of hurting them. It was a good introduction to what the mines were like, though, especially once Ashe told them that the only threat slimes posed was thanks to their tendency to swarm like that—it was easy to get into some real trouble if there were other monsters lurking about.

“Oh yeah, I completely forgot.” Sam suddenly recalled their original reason for wanting to talk to Ashe some time later, as they were chipping away at a vein of silver ore—it wasn’t a gemstone, sure, but silver was still valuable in its own right. “We wanted to ask you something, Ashe.”

“ _You_ wanted to ask him something.” Sebastian corrected as he gave Sam a pointed look. “Don’t drag me into your nosiness.”

Ashe swung his pickaxe hard enough to chip a good chunk from the vein. “Me?” He asked, giving Sam an inquisitive look as he knelt down to pick the chunk from the ground. “What is it?”

“Is there something going on with Shane?” Sam wiped a bead of sweat from his face with his shoulder and leaned against the handle of his pickaxe as he spoke. “He seems different than usual, and we noticed that—” A small pebble struck him in the back of the head; he jerked his head around to see Sebastian casually sifting through a pile of chipped fragments, humming in that kind of ‘innocent’ way that was a dead giveaway that he had chucked it. “…. _Sebastian_ noticed that he stopped ordering drinks at the bar. We figured asking him directly wouldn’t work out too well, and you’re one of the people he’s closest to, so…”

“I just want to clarify that I have no part in this.” Sebastian announced bluntly, leaning around his friend to give Ashe a dead serious expression. “Sam was the one who wanted to stick his nose in Shane’s business.”

“Dude, why are you trying to throw me under the bus?!” Sam whipped around again to fume at his friend. “Admit it, you’re curious as hell too! Otherwise you wouldn’t have said anything in the first place! And why are you acting like it’s such a big deal, anyway? It’s a small town, everyone knows everyone’s business eventually!”

As Sam ranted, Sebastian looked away with a smirk and cleaned some dust out of his ear with his pinky finger; it was way too much fun to rile up his friend like that, especially since Sam had the tendency to go way over the top as he was then. “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

“What does that even mean?!” Sam threw his hands up in defeat.

The sound of Ashe giggling brought Sam’s energy back down; the two looked towards the farmer and found him nearly doubled over with repressed laughter. “It’s not a big deal, guys.” He managed to giggle out, straightening up and wiping a tear from his eye; he was almost jealous of the kind of friendship that they had with one another, the kind where you could sit and insult one another for hours just to see who could come up with the most creative shit talk. “Shane decided to quit drinking, that’s all.”

It was the confirmation that they had suspected, but to hear it was still a surprise, considering how much of a beer hound Shane had been up until that point. “Damn. What do you mean, it’s not a big deal?” Sam asked. “That’s kind of huge for him, isn’t it?”

“Of course it is.” Picking up his pickaxe again, Ashe gave it another good swing, sending bits and pieces of rock and silver everywhere. “But I… I think he’s kind of embarrassed about it. He said the last thing he wants is for the whole town to start bringing up how glad they are that he’s not a drunkard anymore. He just wants everything else to stay the same…” Another swing revealed little flecks of red embedded in the rock, and he set the pickaxe aside to crouch down and get a closer look. “Change can be really scary, so having something normal to cling to can make it less scary… right?”

Sam and Sebastian exchanged a look. “A match made in heaven.” Sam stated with a sage nod of his head.

“I can already hear the wedding bells ringing.” Sebastian agreed, making Ashe’s face turn red.

“H-Hey, what do you mean by that?” He demanded, becoming quite flustered by their casual comments. “It’s not like that with us at all. We’re just good friends. Besides, Shane… Shane needs to focus on getting better. Something like that would just get in the way. Yeah, it would just distract him from his recovery!”

His adamant protests and excuses made both males snicker. “The lady really doth protest too much now.” Sebastian teased with a smirk. “Oh, calm down and listen.” He added, when he saw that Ashe was getting even more worked up than Sam had been a few moments ago.

“Think about it.” Sam took the opportunity to sit down beside Ashe for a break, gesturing for the smaller male to join him as Sebastian did the same. “Shane’s been set in his way for years and years, right? Everyone in town knew what a bad place he was in; we just didn’t know how to get him to see that. But then you showed up, a total stranger, and within just a few months Shane decides that he’s gonna call it quits with booze. Now why would he do that for someone he hasn’t known for very long, and not for the people he’s lived with for years?”

Ashe didn’t say anything for a moment as he pulled his knees up to his chest. “… I didn’t have anything to do with that.” He insisted emphatically, once he had given some thought to what he wanted to say. “All I did was pester him until we were friends…”

Even as he said the words, he knew deep down that he was lying to himself. If that were really true, then why was he letting all of this bother him so much? “….” Catching the look that the two were giving him, he quickly added, “E-Even if what you’re getting at is true, there’s no chance anything would happen with us. Absolutely zero. Shane isn’t into guys, and surely it’d make people in town feel uncomfortable…”

“How do you know he’s not into guys?” Sebastian dug around in his pocket for his pack of cigarettes. “Did he ever say that, or are you just assuming?”

“…. It’s a pretty safe assumption.” Ashe mumbled, his face only turning redder.

“Thought so.” The flame of Sebastian’s lighter lit up the space for a moment, followed by the sound of the end of the cigarette smouldering as Sebastian took a drag on it.

“We’re not trying to embarrass you or make you uncomfortable.” Sam assured Ashe as the farmer buried his face in his hands. “We’re really not—”

“Oh I am.” Sebastian corrected, earning himself a smack on the shoulder from his best friend.

“—We just wanna help you out a little.” Sam continued, after giving Sebastian one hell of a stink eye. “You’re our friend, after all. And it’s pretty obvious how much you care for the guy, and how much he cares for you.”

For a long moment again, Ashe didn’t say anything. It felt strange, to have the ‘because we’re friends’ card played against himself for a change. “… I don’t want to ruin what we already have.” He finally murmured, resting his chin against his knees; for once, none of his characteristic bubbliness was present. “And it would feel like I’m just taking advantage of him when he’s vulnerable… I really appreciate what you guys are trying to say, but…” He lifted his head up and looked to each of them in turn, putting on the best, most convincing smile that he could. “I’m really happy with letting things stay the way they are~”

It was painfully obvious what a lie that was. But before either Sebastian or Sam could say anything more, they felt a faint rumble in the ground. “Uhh… that wasn’t me.” Was the first thing that Sam could think to say as the three of them looked around for the source.

“I think we’d actually die of oxygen depravation if it was you.” Sebastian quickly snuffed out his cigarette. “It was probably a minor earthquake or something—” That explanation began to fall apart as another rumble, then another still followed, each growing slightly stronger than the last. “… Ashe, should we be worried?”

“Uhh, maybe?” Ashe scrambled to his feet and cranked up the light on his headlamp as he looked around; a rumble strong enough to nearly knock him over seemed to come from the direction of where they had been coming from. Slowly, all three of them turned their heads to look, their headlamps illuminating upon a massive, deep purple slime as it came to loom over them—unlike the little ones they had encountered before, this one glared down at them with terrifying eyes, its little deely-bopper antennae swaying back and forth in agitation.

“I-Is this one harmless too?” Sam stammered as he and Sebastian also hastily got to their feet, staring up with jaws hanging slightly at the monstrosity before them. “What the hell even is it?”

Ashe swallowed nervously. “S-Slime EX.” He answered, suddenly finding his mouth quite dry. “And, uh… it’s not harmless. If it squishes you, it’s game over.”

Sebastian could picture what being crushed by that thing would be like—moist, heavy, suffocating, and thoroughly unpleasant. Definitely something to avoid at all costs. “Any advice on how to deal with it?”

“Yeah.” Ashe grabbed onto each of their arms and began to backpedal, practically throwing them in the opposite direction of the slime as he shouted, “ _RUN!_ ”

That was it, they were all done. Screaming at the top of their lungs, the boys fled, with the enraged slime giving chase—it could move pretty damn fast for a squishy amorphous blob. “This is not how I want to go out, man!” Sam wheezed, pumping his arms as hard as he could to get some more momentum in his running. “I’m too young! I haven’t even had a girlfriend yet!!”

“Less bitching, more running!” Sebastian barked to his friend, glancing over his shoulder to see the slime gaining on them and zipping ahead of the two in order to ensure his survival. “Sorry guys! Survival of the fittest, you understand!”

“ _IF THIS THING DOESN’T KILL YOU THEN I WILL, SEB!”_ Sam shook his fist after his friend. “ _YOU ASSHOLE!”_

****

Collapsed in a big heap, the three began to try and catch their breath; somehow, they’d managed to outrun that thing, though at the expense of going much deeper into the mineshaft than they probably should have. “I-I actually want to die right now.” Sebastian groaned, resting his sweaty face in his hand as he leaned against Sam for support. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d done that much physical activity.

On Sam’s other side, Ashe too leaned against him, his head tilted back and his eyes closed as he clutched at his chest. Compared to the other two, he was much more winded, but all of them were too caught up in what had just happened to notice.

“I-I can’t believe… we got away…” Sam coughed, sliding down against the wall he was slumped against; as he did so, he felt something pointy dig into the small of his back, making him yelp and quickly sit back up.

Ashe too straightened up, fanning himself with his hand and doing his best to calm his racing heart. “I’m so sorry, guys.” He apologized, his entire body beginning to shake now that the danger had passed and his adrenaline was wearing off. “Th-that was really dangerous… I-I shouldn’t have brought you here.”

“Wh-what are you apologizing for?” Sebastian shook his head and leaned forward to look at Ashe from around Sam. “We knew the risks from the start. It’s not like you twisted our arms into it; we came with because we were bored.”

“Still….” Ashe let out a long, heavy breath. “I guess I wouldn’t feel as bad if we’d managed to find anything more than a few chunks of silver.” He admitted. “It just feels like this was a big letdown.”

“Are you kidding?” Sam managed to laugh as he got some of the wind back in his lungs. “We got to explore a place we’d normally never go to, we got to see real life monsters, we found some silver, and we almost died! This was the most fun I’ve had in a long time." For once, Sebastian agreed with his friend, nodding his head as Ashe looked between the two. “… Okay seriously, what the _hell_ keeps poking me?!”

Finally fed up with the sharp jabbing pain in his back, Sam emphatically pushed the two off of him and twisted around to see just what it was. It took a few seconds before his brain registered what he saw, and when it did, his jaw practically hit the floor. “Uhhhh….”

“Whoa…”/ “Holy shit.” Ashe and Sebastian both uttered simultaneously, crowding around Sam as they looked upon a huge vein of jade; what had been poking Sam in the back was a chunk of the gemstone that jutted out from the rest. They had actually just hit paydirt by complete accident. When the revelation sank in, they all shared a long look, before they busted out laughing in disbelief.

They were still laughing and joking about their unreal luck when they finally returned to the front of the cave, hauling the sack filled with jade as it was too heavy to carry properly at that point; what was really the icing on the cake was the look that Percy gave them as they passed, as he had came out from the right path mere moments before them with a much smaller trove.

“Thanks for suggesting that we come with you today, Ashe.” Sebastian thanked, as they emerged out into the furnace that was the outside.

“Yeah, seriously. Thanks!” Sam agreed with the most ecstatic grin. “Man, even splitting what we got three ways, this is gonna be worth like five paychecks~ I’ll be able to get that AC for sure!”

Relieved that things had worked out, Ashe laughed happily. “I should be the one thanking you guys.” He insisted with a merry smile. “If you hadn’t come with, I wouldn’t have made out with much of anything today—”

“ _Ahem._ ”

The unmistakeable sound of a displeased mother clearing her throat killed the jovial mood in an instant; to the boys’ horror, Robin and Jodi were waiting for them, both wearing the kind of ‘you’re in so much trouble’ expression that struck fear into the hearts of even grown men. In all the excitement, the three of them had completely lost track of how long they had been in the mines.

“…. Well, it was nice knowing you two!” Ashe suddenly broke away from them, monkey-climbing up the hill to their left up to where Linus’ tent was pitched as he made his grand escape. “I’ll be sure to leave flowers on your graves!”

“ASHE, YOU LITTLE—GET BACK HERE AND SHARE IN THE MISERY!!!” Sam raged, as Sebastian just tugged a cigarette out from the pack in his pocket and lit it, already resigned to his fate. The haul was totally worth getting into trouble for, and if it weren’t for Ashe, they wouldn’t have had arguably the best time of their lives. So just this once, he could get away with it. 


	8. July 27

After a nearly three mile walk from the nearest functioning bus stop, an exhausted Shane finally returned to Pelican town; it was Friday, the day he and his therapist in Zuzu City had set for their weekly sessions. The trip wouldn’t be quite so bad if the bus that old Pam used to drive still worked, but it had broken down some years ago and the town didn’t have the resources to get it fixed, so that unfortunately meant quite a walk to get to a bus that did work. 

It still felt awkward and kind of shameful for him to walk into that office, even though the staff there were all very friendly and understanding—not to mention the therapist, who was quiet, unassuming, gentle but firm in his suggestions to Shane to help his recovery, both from the alcoholism and the depression, along.

Shane had always known that it was going to be hell, giving up alcohol cold turkey like he was; at first, the therapist had suggested weaning, but Shane knew himself well enough that he wouldn’t be able to help himself if he had even a drop of drink and insisted on cutting it off completely. Even then, he couldn’t have fathomed the toll it would take on his body, mind and mood—the first few days were the most hellish. He had the shakes, a piercing migraine that wouldn’t go away no matter how many aspirin he took, he was physically ill several times, and sleep was a far-fetched concept.

He felt really bad for Jas and Marnie, who had to deal with all of that and the piss-poor attitude that it brought with it, though he played it all off as just a severe flu bug. Maybe it was stupid, maybe he could have really used the support during the beginning, but he wanted to get through the worst of it of his own willpower.

Today was the first day that he hadn’t woken up feeling like absolute shit. In fact, he almost dared to say that it was manageable; his head didn’t feel like it was splitting open, and it didn’t take him an hour to muster up the strength to get up out of bed. He had managed to make an actual breakfast with the extra eggs that Charlie and the girls laid for them that morning. And hell, the walk to the bus station that morning actually left him feeling pretty damn good, even though the trip from it back to town that evening felt a bit less so. Having had one of the better days he’d had in a long time, Shane decided that today was a good day to tell Marnie and Jas what was going on.

Adjusting the shopping bag that he held in his hand, he tucked the other hand into his shorts pocket and strolled leisurely through town; the sun was beginning its descent from the sky, staining the crystal clear sky a fiery orange and red hue. On the way there, he stopped outside Pierre’s and checked the bulletin board on a whim. Sometimes someone would post a note about a free piece of furniture, or Pierre would leave a notice about an upcoming sale. His sales never reached the 50% off that Joja regularly offered, but at least Pierre’s stock was quality and worth the higher price.

“… Oh, that’s right.” Shane murmured to himself as he checked the calendar that hung next to the bulletin board. “The Luau’s coming up soon… Need to dig out those stretchy shorts and get them washed soon.” Next to the Egg Festival, the Luau was probably his favorite festival—it was a festival literally just centered on eating food, what wasn’t there to love about that? _‘Maybe I should give Ashe a heads-up.’_ He pondered, turning on his heel and heading south towards the road leading home. Every household was expected to contribute both an ingredient towards the Luau’s main centerpiece, the potluck stew, and a cooked dish, and he didn’t want Ashe to be left in the dark if no one else thought to tell him about that since it was his first year in town.

He owed a lot to the kid, that much was for sure. If Ashe hadn’t been so stubborn and bullheaded about befriending him, there was a real likelihood that Shane wouldn’t be there that day. A real likelihood that he would have rolled right off that cliff like he’d fantasized about. For some reason, Ashe never gave up on him, and he never let Shane give up on himself.

Without realizing it, he was already standing outside the door to the ranch; he’d been so lost in his thoughts that his legs had just carried him to where he needed to go on their own. Pausing to bend down and rub at his knee which had started to ache from the walking, Shane opened the door and stepped inside. “I’m back.” He called as he pushed it closed behind him; as expected, the shop was empty, and he presumed that Marnie and Jas were in the kitchen given the smell of steak that filled the air.

“Oh, welcome home Shane.” Marnie greeted, looking over her shoulder as her nephew came into the kitchen; Jas looked up from her coloring book and waved a little to Shane before going back to her very serious business of perfectly coloring in her favorite princess from the Welwick Court. “Goodness, don’t you look happy?”

“Do I?” Shane moved over to the table and ruffled Jas’ hair lightly, unaware that he’d had a big, goofy grin on his face since he’d walked in; it felt good to be home and not be drunk or hungover. “I guess you’re right. I haven’t felt this light in… Yoba, I don’t even know how long.”

Marnie pulled the last searing steak from the frying pan and stuck it on the baking tray with the rest to go into the oven to finish cooking. “Let me guess…” She pondered, turning to look at Shane fully as she wiped her hands on her apron. “Gus had a clearance sale on canned beer?”

The comment stung a little, Shane couldn’t deny that; he didn’t blame her for thinking that, though. He’d kept her and Jas in the dark up til now, and as far as they knew he’d just gone off to work like he did every Friday. “Hah, good one.” He managed a half laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck, his grin becoming quite sheepish. “No, actually. I’ve been drinking sparkling water instead of beer… and I feel great.”

His words made Marnie freeze, her eyes widening in surprise; even Jas stopped coloring and looked back at Shane with eyes wide. To be honest, their reaction was bittersweet. It felt good to be able to say that to them, but at the same time, he had to realize how badly his behavior had affected them in order to elicit such a reaction. “Really?” His aunt managed to ask after a moment.

“Yeah.” Shane confirmed with a nod of his head. “… Y’know, sometimes I forget that I really do have friends.” He murmured, his face softening as he spoke. “People that care about me. And it’s okay for me to rely on them. It doesn’t make me weak.”

After a moment of silence, Marnie smiled and nodded her head in agreement. “That’s exactly right. I’m proud of you for realizing that.”

“Took me long enough, huh?” Shane turned his attention to Jas as he set the shopping bag on the table for her. “I’ve got something for you, kiddo.”

“Huh?” Jas blinked, looking up to her godfather for affirmation; when Shane nodded encouragingly, she pulled the bag closer and reached inside, pulling out an unassuming, plain looking box. Her little brows knitted together as she lifted the lid, and the contents practically made them fly off of her face as her eyes went wide again. “Th…. These are real bunny-jewel slippers!!!” She squealed. As if to confirm that it wasn’t fake, she ever so carefully lifted the shoes from the box and turned them over in her hands; sure enough, they were the real deal, and they were even her favorite color—purple. “B…. but these are so expensive!” She looked to her godfather in disbelief, feeling somewhat guilty that Shane had dropped so much money on a present just for her. “How did you afford them?”

Shane smiled and patted her head. “I’ve cut back on an expensive habit, so I’ve got a lot more spending money now.” He explained, glad that he was able to finally give her a proper gift—even if it was nearly a month past her birthday.

“…. Okay….” Jas looked back to the shoes, running her fingers over the sparkly tops.

Seeing the change in her demeanor, Shane knelt down to her level so he could speak to her as an equal. “Jas… I’m sorry about what happened before.” He murmured. As difficult as apologizing was, she deserved at least that much. “I said some stuff that really hurt you, and I should never have let you hear that from me.”

Jas froze a little as Shane spoke, going completely silent as she just stared at those twinkly shoes in her hands. “When I said those things… it’s not because I wanted to leave you or hurt you.” He continued, struggling a little with how to explain it in a way she could understand without sugar coating it. “It’s not your fault. I wasn’t feeling well because, uh… my head is sick, and it makes me feel sad and tired a lot… and…” His brain fizzled out, and after a few moments of silence, he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, I barely understand it myself. It’s hard to explain… but I’ll tell you about it when you want me to, okay? Right now, I just need you to know that I’m working hard to get better. And it’s okay if you’re sad or scared or mad at me. Take as long as you need to feel how you feel.” He smiled, even though he knew she wasn’t looking. “I’m not going anywhere, squirt. I’m gonna work extra hard to be here for you.”

“….” His words were greeted with just more silence, as Jas’s little frame began to quiver slightly in her chair.

Concerned now by her continued quiet, Shane’s smile faded. “Jas? You okay–?”

Almost before he could finish speaking, Jas suddenly flung herself at him, knocking over her chair as she wrapped her arms around him and let out a heartbreaking wail of relief. She didn’t care if Shane drank, she didn’t care if he didn’t buy her the toys that she wanted—all she ever wanted was to hear him say that he wasn’t going to leave her too.

“Whoa—” Shane was nearly knocked over himself, managing to grab onto the table to steady himself before he folded the sobbing child into his arms. “It’s okay, just let it out.” He murmured with a smile, holding her close as she buried her face into his chest. Of course, he didn’t like to see her cry like that, but at least he knew that they were tears of happiness this time.

As she watched the scene unfold, Marnie couldn’t help but wipe a few tears from her own eyes, smiling as she saw the person that she knew Shane had always been deep down. It meant the world to her that Shane finally saw enough of his own worth to start getting better. 

“Do you want to put on your new slippers?” Shane gently asked Jas, once her sobs had quieted; with a sniffle, she nodded, lifting her face from his now soaked shirt as she did so. He set her on her feet and picked up her chair, waiting for her to sit back down in it before he helped her to put the slippers on. “So, what do you think?”

Jas extended her legs out in front of herself so she could judge them on her feet. “… I love them.” She said with a slight hiccup, unable to stop the happy smile that came onto her face. “And I love you, Shane~ Thank you for getting these for me…”

Dinner that night was one of the most peaceful they’d had in a long time; Shane actually sat at the table and ate with them, rather than taking his plate into his room like he always did. He reminded Marnie about the Luau, and they talked about an upcoming seminar on livestock regulations that would be held in Zuzu City a few days before the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies.

“I’m not quite sure what to do about that, to be honest.” Marnie admitted as she cleared away their finished plates. “I was going to ask Jodi if she’d be willing to watch Jas while we’re away, but during aerobics on Tuesday she mentioned that she and the boys were going on a family trip to the carnival. And Penny has that class that she’s been looking forward to taking for months now…”

“I don’t need a babysitter, auntie.” Jas pointed out as she finished the coloring job she’d been working tirelessly on all evening. “I’m eight years old now, I can take care of myself.”

“Oh, we don’t doubt that for a minute kiddo.” Shane leaned back in his chair with a smile. “But someone has to keep an eye on you to make sure no one tries to steal you away.” He thought for a moment, rocking back and forth slowly on the back legs of the chair. “… Hey, why don’t we ask Ashe to watch her?” He suggested, looking to his aunt as the idea struck him.

Marnie turned the faucet in the sink on and began to fill the left half to soak the dishes. “You know, the idea did cross my mind.” She admitted, turning around to look at Shane pointedly—she _hated_ when people did that, it was so bad for the chair. “Do you think he would mind?”

“Well we won’t know unless we ask.” Catching the look she was giving, Shane promptly set all four legs back on the floor. “I was going to talk to him about the Luau tomorrow, I’ll run the idea by him then too.”

“Alright. I’ll leave it to you, then.” Marnie glanced at the clock on the wall. “Alright, little lady. It’s bedtime. Let’s go get a book picked out—”

“I want Shane to read to me tonight.” Jas insisted emphatically, much to their surprise. “Please?” She pleaded, looking to her godfather with the biggest puppy-dog eyes she could muster.

Momentarily stunned by her request, Shane managed to smile. “Sure, squirt. It’s been a hot minute since I read a book, though, so you might have to help me out.” He got up from his chair, looking to Marnie as Jas took hold of his hand; with a smile, Marnie nodded her head, and Shane led Jas out of the kitchen towards her room.

Neither of them could remember the last time Jas had asked for Shane to put her to bed. It did Marnie’s heart a lot of good to see the two of them bonding again, and she found herself unable to wipe the smile from her face as she washed, dried and put away the dishes. By the time she was done and pouring herself a cup of coffee, Shane returned to the kitchen, reaching around her—“’Scuse me, I’m just going to be rude real quick,” he said with a grin—to get a cup for himself.

“So, how did it go?” She asked, sitting down at the table with a novel of her own to read a little before bed.

“It went fine.” Shane poured what was left into his cup and rinsed the pot under the faucet. “She kept trying to put off going to sleep, though. ‘That story was too short, you gotta read me one more’ and all that jazz.” He took a drink of the bitter brew.

Marnie smiled and took a sip of her own. “… I want you to know I’m real proud of you, Shane.” She said after several moments.

It was something Shane hadn’t expected her to say. “I haven’t done anything worth being proud of yet.” He insisted, setting his cup on the counter. “I’ve still got a lot of work to do before that happens. I didn’t want to say anything until today, but the last few Fridays I’ve been going to see a therapist in Zuzu. I just… wanted to prove to myself that this is something I could do before I got anyone’s hopes up, y’know?”

“So that ‘flu’ you had a few weeks ago wasn’t really the flu, I take it?” Marnie guessed shrewdly, to which Shane held up his hands in surrender. “Normally I don’t appreciate being lied to, but I’ll let it slide this time.” She set her own cup down and opened the book before her. “Does Ashe know?”

“Yeah… to be honest, he’s the main reason I was able to get help in the first place.” Shane admitted with an awkward laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck. “For some reason, he just never gave up on me. I owe him a hell of a lot.”

“It’s real sweet how close the two of you have gotten.” Marnie gave him a warm smile. “I’ve never seen someone melt that heart of yours like he has. You should let him know how you feel at the Moonlight Jellies.”

Her suggestion puzzled Shane, her intent flying right over his head. “The… Moonlight Jellies? Wwwwhy that festival specifically?”

“Because it’d be all the more romantic, of course.” Marnie looked back to her book and turned the page slowly. “Of course, I can understand not wanting to wait that long to get together. I still remember my first romance and how impatient I was… ah, to be young and in love again.”

“Roman—lo—” Shane sputtered, his face turning red as it clicked in his head what she was getting at. “Marnie, come on, you’re reaching here. I appreciate what the kid’s done for me, and… well, maybe there is something there, but I’m way too old for him don’t you think? And that’s not to say that I have no idea if he even thinks of me like that, or if he even swings that way to begin with—”

“Shane, when you live as long as I have and work in a business like this,” Marnie interrupted his protests casually, “you learn to be a real good judge of people. Trust me, you’ve got more of a chance than you think. I just see how well the two of you get on and the side of you that he brings out. Give it some thought.”

Unable to think of what to say to that, Shane quickly finished off his coffee and set the cup in the sink. “I’m going to bed.” He announced as he cleared his throat. “Good night, Marnie.”

“Night, dear.” Marnie waved her fingers at him over her shoulder, hiding a laugh at his quick exit. Even if nothing came of it in the end, she at least wanted to make him aware of his feelings.


	9. July 31

With the scent of freshly sanded down and finished wood still filling his nose, Ashe traipsed cheerily down the road south of the farm towards Marnie’s ranch; he’d finally managed to get a pretty decent chicken coop built, thanks to Robin’s expert help, and he was ready to fill it with cute clucky little hens. It was a milestone that, to him, marked his evolution from just a simple farmer to a proper rancher, and he was already thinking ahead to how much lumber he’d need to get together to get a barn built. Chickens came first, though.

It was just a little past 9:30 by the time he reached the ranch; he always felt just a little bad about showing up so soon after the shop opened, even though that was kind of the point of hours of operation. “Good morning.” He greeted with a happy smile, pushing the heavy door open and stepping inside.

“Oh, good morning Ashe.” Marnie looked up from her knitting and stifled a yawn, still trying to get through her first cup of coffee. “You’re looking bright and chipper as ever. What are you up to today?”

“Well—”

Before Ashe could tell her, the pitter-patter of Jas’ feet announced her arrival, and he could feel several light tugs on the hem of his shorts. “Mr. Ashe, Mr. Ashe.” The little girl said, bouncing up and down a little to try and get his attention. “Shane wants you to come see something.”

“See what?” Ashe blinked several times in surprise, as an impatient and clearly excited Jas took hold of his hand and pulled him along towards the kitchen. “Whoa—okay okay, I’m coming.” He could hear Marnie’s laughter as Jas all but dragged him down the hall, through the kitchen and towards a door nestled in the back corner of the space. Ashe didn’t even know the door was there, though to be fair he’d only seen the kitchen a small handful of times on his way to Shane’s room. “Where are we going, exactly?”

“The coop, silly.” Jas had a bit of trouble turning the doorknob with just one hand, her other hand still firmly grasping Ashe’s so he couldn’t get away. She managed, though, pushing the door open and leading the puzzled farmer outside.

The coop she had mentioned wasn’t the one where the poultry that Marnie raised to be sold were kept; instead, it was a relatively new addition, one that Shane and Jas had both been working on together. It was their special project, and part of Shane’s crowning achievement, filled to the brim with happy, plucky white and blue hens going about their breakfast without a care in the world.

There was one chicken that stood out from the rest, and that was Charlie, Shane’s favorite little hen who was currently sitting on the back of a sweet-faced brown heifer who fancied herself more of a hen than a cow. It was as if she was watching Shane, who was carefully painting a sign resting up against the wall—using a brilliant red paint, he had painstakingly lettered the sign to read ‘FRESH EGGS’.

“That should do it…” He said to himself as he painted the last S onto the sign. Setting the brush across the opening of the paint can, he scooted back to get a good look at the whole sign, feeling pretty proud of himself. It was definitely weird for him, to have things to be proud over, but it was something he could get used to. It wasn’t just the sign, of course; his recovery, his depression, his work here on the ranch, his efforts to be a better godfather to Jas and just a better person in general—all of this gave him the sort of pride that he hadn’t felt in years, decades even. “What do you think, Charlie?”

Looking to the chicken as he spoke, he watched as Charlie cocked her head to the side, ruffling her feathers and shaking her wings a little as she seemed to study it, before delivering a verdict in a gentle coo. “Atta girl, I knew you’d like it.” Yoba, there was no understating how much he fucking loved chickens, especially that chicken. He got to his feet and stretched, his joints popping a little from being hunched over to paint the sign, and reached out to stroke Charlie’s head affectionately. “Yeah, this is the perfect home for you hens. We’re gonna have the best eggs in the whole damn valley. Fresh and healthy, with rich golden yolks. Not like those pale, sickly Joja eggs…”

Charlie coo’d again, voicing her agreement as she pushed her head against Shane’s hand. He looked out at the rest of the animals around them, his smile widening as he beheld his crowning achievements—his special blue chickens that he had worked so hard on breeding. There were only a few of them at the moment, and they were too young to lay eggs of their own, but soon enough farmers like Ashe would be able to own a blue chicken or two of their own. “…”

For a moment, Shane was quiet, his hand coming to a stop atop Charlie’s head; a second passed, and he sighed, carefully lifting Charlie from the cow’s back to hold her close. “You know, Charlie… I was thinking… A guy like me is always teetering on the edge of despair… know what I mean?” He murmured, lightly scratching Charlie’s chest where he knew she had trouble getting at herself. “But you and the other hens are going to keep me upright from now on… I know it.” After a pause, he added, “And that nosy bugaboo will too, huh? He makes it impossible to have a bad day no matter how hard I try.” He hugged Charlie closer and tucked her under his chin with another sigh. “It’s like he manages to chase the storm clouds away… Hey, Charlie? Do you think… you think a guy like me could ever have a shot with someone like him?”

His question was answered with a swift peck to his index finger. “Ow—hey, what was that for?!” Shane looked down at the hen in shock. “That’s—you’ve never pecked me before. What’s gotten into you, girl?”

Charlie just coo’d again, ruffling her feathers back into place as she settled her beady eyes on him; her behavior was just so matter-of-fact that, just for a moment, Shane felt like she’d actually given him an intelligent answer. “… Sssoo, was that a yes or a no then?” 

The door from the kitchen opened, cutting their conversation short as Jas led the still curious Ashe inside. “Oh, hey Ashe.” Shane greeted, glad that neither of them had heard him ask that question to Charlie. He set the hen back on the cow and turned to face his friend with a huge smile. “So, what do you think?”

“What do I think?” This time it was Ashe who cocked his head to the side; it took him a second to think to look around, his eyes widening in surprise as he laid them on the little blue hens that were running around. “Ah—oh my Yoba, they’re so cute~!! Aaaaah, they’re so _BLUE_!”

Shane and Jas both started laughing as Ashe crouched down, looking as though he’d just stumbled onto a vault of riches; the chickens all flocked to him, each one attempting to get some affection from the enchanted youth.

“My special blue hens.” Shane explained, his grin widening as Ashe cuddled each and every one in turn; animals were probably the best judges for people, so to see his hens practically smitten with his friend just cemented to him what a good guy he was. “I’ve been raising them in secret for the last few months. I… well, I won’t be living here forever,” he rested his hand atop Jas’ head and lightly ruffled her hair, “and I wanted to pass something on to Jas. I’ve been teaching her how to care for them.”

Jas nodded in affirmation, planting her hands firmly on her hips and puffing her chest out proudly. "It's my job to feed them in the mornings. I haven't been late a single time yet." 

Chuckling at the confident pose his goddaughter had struck, Shane continued, “I want to feel like I’m not just a leech on the world. I want to contribute somehow, even in a small way like this…” He glanced at the watch strapped around his wrist and whistled. “Whoops—you’d better skidaddle, Jas, or you’ll keep Penny and Vincent waiting. Thanks for helping out this morning.”

“You’re welcome~” Jas jumped to give him a tight hug. “Bye Shane, bye Mr. Ashe~”

“Have fun, Jas~” Ashe managed to wave to her as she traipsed off, still completely swarmed by happy little hens. “This is really incredible, Shane. I’ve never seen such happy looking chickens.”

“Heh, thanks.” Hearing that praise coming from Ashe felt all the better. “So, what brought you by today? Just swinging by to say hello like usual?”

“Oh!” In all the excitement, Ashe had completely forgotten the reason behind his early visit; hastily, but carefully, he moved the hens off of himself and scooted around to look at Shane. “Actually, I was hoping you could teach me about having hens. I finally got a coop built and I want to start raising them.”

“Oh, that so?” Shane rubbed his stubbled chin in thought. “You looking for just the basics or an in-depth lesson?”

“In-depth, of course.”

“Hoo boy… Alright, this might take awhile.” Shane plonked himself down beside Ashe and rubbed his hands together. He was going to make damn sure that Ashe would be well-prepared to care for his beloved poultry.


	10. August 5

Summer was well and truly upon the valley by the time of the Luau, making the escape to the beach for the festival a welcome relief from what would be the hottest day of the year; the salty breeze coming off of the ocean helped to cool the festival area down to manageable levels, but it was still hot enough to be quite uncomfortable. Still, that didn’t stop Pelican Town’s inhabitants from flocking towards the delicious scent of food wafting up from the shores. 

Carrying a platter of stuffed tomatoes, Ashe nervously made his way there himself; even though he thought he was an okay cook he’d never had other people try something he’d made before. The fact that this was the first time he’d attended a Luau only compounded his anxiety, even though he kept telling himself it was going to be fine and he would have a good time. If things got to be too much, he could always just hang out with Shane, since Shane tended to stay away from everyone anyway.

The beach was lively, decorated with a sort of tiki theme to give it a tropical vibe. The star of the whole affair, the massive potluck, was being lovingly tended to by Marnie in the middle of the beach, with Mayor Lewis and an unfamiliar, portly man standing nearby, watching and chatting with one another. Off to the left, a makeshift dance floor had been set up south of Elliot’s hut, with a pair of massive speakers pumping out some beachy dance numbers; there were several people enjoying the setup, including Jas and Vincent who were doing a very cute little dance together—but they were almost completely overshadowed by Emily, who was performing such an elaborate jig that it was hard to tell if she was just having fun, completely drunk off her rocker, or was in the middle of a strange seizure.

Off to the right, meanwhile, was the buffet, setup in a series of long tables covered in pristine white tableclothes and laden with delicious looking food. Just from a quick glance, it was clear to see what was home-cooked food from the likes of Marnie, Jodi and Caroline, and what was prepared by arguably the best cook in town, Gus. That wasn’t to say that the food made by everyone else wasn’t good, but Gus’ cooking was in a league of its own—in fact, he’d once told Ashe that he’d had a few cooking competition wins under his belt. Just as Ashe had anticipated, Shane was getting all up in the foodie offerings, following the trend of the rest of the townsfolk in wearing warm-weather clothing and trading in his hoodie for a loose fitting shirt to go with his stretchy shorts.

Almost as if he could tell that Ashe had been looking at him, Shane tore his eyes off of the deviled eggs he had been eying, waving a little to indicate he’d seen him. Relaxing a little at the sight of his best friend, Ashe began towards the buffet—

“Ah, Ashe! Ashe!” Lewis called, noticing Ashe before the farmboy had a chance to take more than three steps; hearing his name, Ashe immediately froze in place, visibly tensing up. _‘Drat.’_ He thought with an internal sigh as he turned on his heel and started towards the mayor who was gesturing him over. “This is the newcomer I was telling you about, Mr. Abbott. Ashe, this is Mr. Abbott, Stardew Valley’s governer.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Abbott.” Ashe greeted with a friendly smile, as every cell in his body yelled at him to get his happy butt over to the buffet where there weren’t so many people around. He knew that would be extremely rude to do, though, and kept his feet firmly planted where they were.

“The pleasure is all mine.” At least the governer seemed like a friendly enough man, sweeping off his purple bowler hat to bow courteously to Ashe. “It certainly is good to have a face to put to the name, though I can’t say that you look at all how I expected.”

“What’s even more unexpected is just how much he resembles his grandfather when he was that age.” Lewis commented with a laugh. “Sometimes I forget what year it is and think that I’m speaking with Yogi again. But the boy’s got his old man’s green thumb. You really should swing by the farm before you leave today and see for yourself the kind of products that Ashe is putting out—”

The sound of a throat being cleared cut off Lewis’ enthusiastic gushing. “Pardon me for interrupting,” Percy spoke with a smug smile as he strode over, bearing a platter of fancy-looking drinks, “but I would be doing Pelican Town a huge disservice if I let the governer believe that Muhinyi’s farm is the best that we can offer. I think you would be quite pleased if you stopped by my ranch and got a first-hand experience there, Mr. Abbott.”

As he spoke, Percy offered the men the drinks on the tray, all smiles and charming charisma. “Oh? And who might this be, Lewis?” Abbott inquired, graciously accepting the offered beverage.

“Ah, yes, forgive me for not introducing our other newcomer as well.” Lewis too accepted a drink from Percy. “This is—”

“Percy Wellington III, at your service.” Percy placed his hand against his chest and bowed deeply to the governer. “Truly, it is a pleasure to make your esteemed acquaintance.”

“There was a…. minor dispute over the farmland.” Lewis explained to Abbott as Percy practically blocked Ashe from their view. “Percy and Ashe decided to settle it with a friendly little wager to see who could make the best use of the land in three years’ time.”

“I see, I see.” Abbott nodded his head. “I daresay that was a brilliant solution to the problem. May the better man win.”

Realizing that nobody was even talking to him at that point, Ashe gave up and silently left, sneaking over to the potluck to deliver a half-dozen of the tomatoes he hadn’t used for his dish before finally getting over to the buffet table. By the time he got there, he felt completely exhausted, even though the day wasn’t even half-over yet.

“Oh, there you are.” Shane commented as Ashe practically dropped his platter onto an empty spot on the buffet. “… Yeah, that’s how I feel too bud.” He looked over to where Percy was effortlessly schmoozing with the mayor and governer. “That guy really knows how to kiss ass, huh? I bet that silver tongue of his can convince the governer to actually donate this year.”

As Shane had been talking, Ashe poured himself a cup of punch; hearing that last bit, however, he paused mid-drink. “Donate?” He asked, coughing a little as a few drops went down the wrong tube.

“Yeah. The only reason Lewis holds the Luau every year is to try and get Abbott to give the town some money.” Shane popped a deviled egg into his mouth and closed his eyes in bliss; half of the reason why he came to the Luau was just to eat Gus’ legendary eggs.

“I… Is the town really that strapped for funding?” Ashe’s brows furrowed together in concern; Lewis had mentioned once or twice that money was a bit tight, but he never made it seem like things were dire.

Shane shrugged his shoulders. “It’s impossible to know since Lewis never gives a straight answer.” He answered simply, setting his plate down to get himself a bowl of hot pepper chutney. “But that’s just the feeling everyone has, considering most of the requests made during town hall meetings never get fulfilled.”

“…. I see…” Ashe gazed down to his punch as he fell quiet. _‘… That’s it.’_ He thought, an idea hitting him after several seconds of deep contemplation. _‘When I win grandpa’s farm back, I’ll donate every bit of G I have to Pelican Town.’_ He certainly wouldn’t need the money; nearly everything he needed he could get for himself on the farm, after all.

“Mm-MM. Damn, this chutney’s good.” Shane’s ecstatic praise of the food brought Ashe out of his thoughts. “Here, try some.”

He offered a taste to Ashe; seeing the excited look on his friend’s face, Ashe couldn’t bring himself to turn down the offer, despite being a huge wuss when it came to spice. “Ah, thank you~” He chimed, happy that Shane was happy and wanting to share with him. He could smell the spice even before the spoon got to his mouth, but that didn’t stop him from popping it right in. “…. Mm!”

It was a mixture of ‘tasty’ and ‘ouch’ that made the ‘mm’ sound; in the brief moment before the spice kicked in, Ashe enjoyed the rich, slightly sweet flavor of the peppers—and then the heat ramped up to 11, making his entire face red. “I-It’s delicious!” He commented with a laugh, as beads of sweat ran down his face. “I’ve never t-tasted anything like this before!”

“Pfft…” Shane saw right through the tough-guy act. “It’s fine if it’s too spicy for you. You don’t gotta pretend like you liked it. That just means there’s more for me, hehe.” He had to admit, though, it was pretty cute, the way Ashe was trying to play tough. “Here, try one of Marnie’s goat cheese poppers. Dairy cuts through the burn like nothing else.”

He grabbed a few of said poppers and set them on a plate for Ashe before handing it to him, taking pity on him since he was quite clearly suffering. “Th-thanks.” Ashe sputtered, wasting no time in gobbling up three of them; Shane could see the exact moment that the dairy cut through the capsaicin, as a blissful expression came onto Ashe’s face and his entire body relaxed. “Mmm…. These are so good~”

“You’re so over the top sometimes.” Shane snorted with a grin. “You better be sure to tell Marnie you liked them.”

“I will~” Ashe helped himself to some more. “… Just not right now. I still need to recharge before I’ll be up to talking with other people again.”

“Man, I get that feeling.” Shane _felt_ that; it was how he felt right then, after all, and how he felt pretty much every day. But talking with Ashe didn’t drain his batteries like it used to; in fact, it was actually kind of nice to be able to bullshit and make jokes with someone during these festivals. “So what is this that you brought?” He asked, finally moving to look at Ashe’s dish.

Having just popped another popper into his mouth, Ashe hastily swallowed it so he could answer. “O-Oh, uh—it’s just some stuffed tomatoes.” He laughed nervously, as Shane stabbed one with his fork and set it onto his plate. “You don’t have to try them. I-I doubt they’re actually any good.”

“Ashe,” Shane looked to his friend with a deadly serious expression, “you should know by now that if it’s on the buffet table, I’m going to eat it. Besides, there’s only one way to find out what it tastes like.” He used his fork to cut into it, making sure to get equal amounts of the roasted tomato and the stuffing inside it before he popped it into his mouth.

“… No good?” Ashe asked meekly as Shane chewed with a contemplative look on his face.

In response, Shane held up a finger as a ‘wait a second’ gesture. “…. What makes you think this isn’t good?” He asked, once he’d swallowed his mouthful. “This isn’t half bad, Ashe. You grew the tomatoes, right?”

“Ah…” Ashe looked completely surprised that Shane liked it. “Y-Yeah, I… actually picked them this morning… It really tastes good?”

“I think so.” Shane took another bite. “You could seriously give Gus a run for his money with this. What’s in the stuffing?”

Bolstered a little by Shane’s praise, Ashe straightened up as his face brightened. “Bread crumbs, some herbs, a tiny little bit of hot peppers, some garlic and some parmesan. It’s one of my mom’s recipes, but I never made it before so I didn’t know how it would turn out.”

“You should tell her that it’s damn good. Marnie would probably kill to get the recipe from her.” Shane went to get another one, unaware of the knife he’d unwittingly stabbed into Ashe’s heart with his comment.

“… I’ll definitely let her know.” Ashe continued to smile despite it, not wanting to ruin the good time. “I’m sure she’d be happy to hear how much you liked it~”

Thankfully, Shane didn’t seem to notice that anything was off with him; before long, Ashe was able to get over it, forgetting about everything as the two of them chatted over good food and mutually kept each other in check about their weaknesses—there was an ample amount of booze available that was continually tempting Shane, and Gus’ signature cornets were present as well, practically calling out to Ashe in their sweet little chocolate-filled voices.

As the Luau began to wind down, Lewis gathered everyone for the main event: the potluck. As with every year, Abbott was given the ‘honor’ of having the first taste, taking his time to let it mull over his tongue before declaring that it was a pleasant soup indeed. Nothing groundbreaking, but he seemed to like it well enough. Whether it would be enough to secure a donation to Pelican Town’s coffers remained to be seen.

When the leftovers had been distributed to everyone, and the party setup was being torn down, Ashe spotted Percy leading the governor off, presumably to give him the ‘grand tour’ of the farms. “….” For some reason, it really ruffled his feathers that Percy was basically using politics to try and get even more of an edge over him, rather than letting his farm work speak for itself.

“Ashe.” Lewis spoke, getting the farmboy’s attention. “If you need to leave, you can. You don’t need to stick around to help with the teardown.” He too had seen what Percy was up to, and was just as perturbed that the man had basically stolen the spotlight from him.

The offer was nice, but… “Uh-uh.” Ashe stubbornly shook his head. “Everyone else is helping to clean up, so I should too. It’s only fair, don’t you think?”

No matter how desperately he wanted to win the bet, Ashe refused to let the win come at the expense of others. He would win through his own blood, sweat and tears, even if such a resolve made the task all the more harder. And now, even more than that, he wanted his work on the farm to benefit everyone in town, not just himself.

“….” Lewis smiled a little at Ashe’s insistence on staying. “You’re a good kid, Ashe.” He commented, patting Ashe’s shoulder lightly. “Thank you.”

He sincerely, fervently hoped that Ashe would win. Driving Joja out of town once and for all was his dream, and had been ever since they’d set up that godforsaken supermarket. It weighed heavily on his mind that such a heavy burden rested on such young shoulders, but with every passing day, he found himself believing just that little bit more that Ashe could pull it off. 


	11. August 26 - Part 1

The Luau had truly marked the midway point for the summer season, with temperatures steadily decreasing since then. It was still uncomfortably hot with all the humidity, but at least no one felt like they were melting if they stepped outside. Even more than that, it seemed like a sort of sleepy lull had befallen the townsfolk; everything was just… chilled out and mellow, almost as if they were enjoying an extended food coma from all of the food they’d eaten that day on the beach.

But today, that peaceful tranquility for Ashe was just nowhere to be found. It was as though every malevolent spirit was in a bad mood and took it all out on him, cursing him with what could only be described as awful luck. It started as soon as he’d woken up, with him catching his foot on his blanket when he’d gotten out of bed—not only did he end up faceplanting on the floor, the blanket snagged on an exposed nail in the bed frame and got a huge tear ripped into it. Then when he was about to have breakfast, he dropped the bowl he was getting out from the cupboards, and it predictably shattered upon impact with the floor.

It didn’t stop there; as he’d been picking up the pieces of broken porcelain, he managed to cut his finger on one, and Blue chose that moment to vomit up a massive, disgusting hairball right in the middle of the living room floor, before casually trotting out the dog-door to enjoy the morning sunlight outside. Ashe had sincerely hoped that the bad luck was just isolated to inside the house, but no, he couldn’t have been more wrong.

Just as he’d finished cleaning up Blue’s mess, he could hear his sweet little cat yowling and making quite the racket outside; alarmed by the sounds he’d never heard coming from the kitty, Ashe threw open the door with more force than intended, and he could only watch as the door fell forward out of the frame and hit the porch with a mighty _thud_. The sound made Blue—and the skunk that he had been scrapping with—jump from fright, with the skunk skittering away into the surrounding forest. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like Blue had gotten hurt or sprayed, but Ashe’s heart sank when he realized that the skunk had gone to town on his melon patch, the one crop he was really banking on to make some serious G that season. Picking up the door and resting it against the exterior of the house for the time being, Ashe hastily traipsed down the porch steps to make sure Blue was really alright—and in his second fall of the day, he caught his foot on his baggy pj bottoms and faceplanted again in the dirt at the bottom of the steps.

“…. It’s going to be a really long day…” He mumbled, just lying there for a moment as he let out a long breath and as Blue came over to make sure his human was alright.

Things just kept snowballing from there. A falling tree narrowly avoided hitting the chicken coop, instead taking out the fence that Ashe had painstakingly built up around it to give the hens some grazing room. When he went to fix the fence, the head of his hammer fell off and landed on his foot. His watering can sprung a giant leak, making it twice as hard to water the crops.

“Having a bad morning, farmer?” Percy called with a smirk, leaning on the fence dividing their parcels of land as he watched Ashe struggle with the morning tasks. “Goodness, I certainly wouldn’t want to be in your shoes right now. You know, now would be a good time to call it quits~”

It was the last thing that Ashe wanted to hear. “I am _not_ giving up!” He snapped, visibly fuming as he limped over to the well to fill his watering can for the tenth time. “Maybe _you_ would give up, but I’m tougher than that.”

“Goodness, it was only a suggestion.” Percy rested his chin in his hand and clucked his tongue derisively. “No need to get nasty, I was merely making conversation… I will admit though, I haven’t the faintest idea why you’ve held out this long. You never struck me as a prideful person.”

“It’s not pride.” Ashe marched up to where Percy was leaning against the fence and glared up at him. “Debts are supposed to be forgiven when people die. I won’t let Joja take anything else from me.”

“…. Well, it’s not exactly up to you now is it.” Percy felt maybe just the smallest twinge of sympathy. Joja certainly had a knack for ruining lives. “We’ll just have to see how you fare at the end of the wager.”

His frame visibly trembling, Ashe turned sharply on his heel. “Just you watch. I’m going to win and send you _and_ Morris packing.” He promised, marching back towards his thirsty crops and wincing every step of the way as his foot throbbed. He was already in a poor mood thanks to the cascade of unlucky events, but the conversation with Percy just soured it even more.

Shane’s head throbbed painfully with each beat of his heart, a reminder to him of his grand fuck-up the day before. Morris had made his displeasure about Shane getting Fridays off known, and made up a bullshit alternative schedule that had him coming in on the weekends when it was rainy. That wasn’t _so_ bad during the summer, when rainy days were scarce, but he knew why Morris had picked such obscure conditions for him to come in: the weekends were his time off, and making him trudge through the rain on his days off was just exquisite torture. Needless to say, the day before had been thunderstorm central.

To top it off, a tour bus had stopped in town on its way to Zuzu City and flooded Joja Mart with obnoxious tourists, most of whom were waving around expired 80% off coupons at Shane as though they’d expected him to honor them—when he wasn’t even manning a register. It was all just too much for him on a day that was already crummy enough to begin with, and he left work with a six pack tucked under his jacket, going through the entire thing while he sat in his dark room and watched reruns of Jimmy Kimmel. 

He was pissed off and ashamed of himself for relapsing like that. There was no excuse for it, it wasn’t like bad days were never going to happen once he quit drinking. And because of it, he missed out on reading Jas her bedtime story, something he had really come to look forward to and enjoy since becoming sober. It just made him feel like more of a failure than he already did. And then on top of all of that, he’d gotten next to no sleep thanks to an annoying cough…

Unable to face his family, Shane left the ranch early and went to his quiet place at the pond to just… sit and think. It gave him a sense of serenity and peace to be there, even with the negative associations he had to the Cindersap forest itself. There was just something deeply calming and cleansing about listening to the gentle lapping of the water, the sound of the wind brushing through the trees, the chitter-chatter of the squirrels and chipmunks as they bustled to and fro… it almost reminded him of the feeling he got whenever Ashe was around.

“…. Dammit, Marnie…” Letting out the breath he had been holding in a long exhale, Shane couldn’t help himself from trying to hold that conversation against his aunt. “Why’d you have to put that idea in my head…?”

Twice now since she’d mentioned telling Ashe how he felt, Shane had dreamed of the farmer. Not the lustful sort of dreams that young folks had when they had someone they fancied, thank Yoba for that—although to be honest, he wasn’t sure if he would rather have had those dreams instead of the mushy, gushy, romantic sort that he actually did. Dreams of long walks down the beach hand in hand and nights spent watching the stars together. It was embarrassing, and he had this irrational fear that Ashe would somehow read his mind and find out that he’d been having them and get creeped out.

For a long while, Shane sat at the end of the pier, lost in his thoughts as he stared out at the calm surface of the pond. He wasn’t the least bit surprised when he heard the familiar _tmp-tmp_ of Ashe’s boots against the wood several hours later. It was like he said that one night, Ashe had a real knack for showing up when he was in a bad mood. He _was_ surprised when Ashe forwent any sort of greeting and just sort of plopped down beside him, casting his fishing pole out into the water without a word. “…Hey dweeb.”

“Hey dork.” Ashe responded without missing a beat.

“Heh. Takes one to know one, ya dingus.” Shane caught the look on his friend’s face. “… You having a bad day too?”

“Mmhm…” After several moments, Ashe realized that he might have just rudely barged in on Shane’s quiet time. “Um… sorry if I interrupted your peace and quiet. I can leave if you want.”

The apology drew a quiet snort from Shane. “Since when did you start apologizing for that? And it’s fine anyway.” Looking away from Ashe, he fell quiet for a minute, before finally admitting in a quiet voice, “I fucked up, Ashe. I got completely trashed last night…” He couldn’t hide the frustration in his voice; it sucked, and it sucked even more that he was saying it to one of the people he didn’t want to let down. With a cough he masked as him clearing his throat, he continued derisively, “I was doing pretty damn good, but I just had to go and screw it up… Yoba, I hate myself sometimes.”

“Don’t say that!” Ashe practically shouted, whipping to the side to look at Shane with an expression of exasperation. “You won’t get better until you love yourself, because otherwise you won’t think that you’re worth the effort.”

Shane hadn’t expected such an explosive reaction to the comment. If he hadn’t figured out that Ashe had been having a rough day before, he would have figured it out now. “I only said sometimes. Calm down…”

“Nnno.” Ashe huffed, shifting closer and wagging his index finger in indignation. “In fact, I want to hear you say you love yourself.” It was a demand that caught Shane even more off-guard, especially with just how outrageous it seemed to him; silence fell between the two as they just stared at each other. “…. I’m serious, Shane.”

“I know, and I can’t decide how I should feel about that.” Shane turned away from his friend and coughed again. “Either way, I’m not saying that.”

“Say it.” Ashe insisted emphatically as he puffed out his cheeks. “Say, ‘I love myself’.”

“Fuck off, Ashe. I’m not saying—”

Shane felt Ashe’s presence closer than it had ever been before, with Ashe’s face mere inches away from his own as he gave him a _look_. “Shaaaane…”

Considering all the confusing feelings he’d been ruminating on before Ashe showed up that day, having him be that close made Shane’s heart skip a beat inside his chest. Unable to withstand his friend’s unrelenting assault, he looked away with a defeated scowl. “…. I love myself.” He mumbled.

“’I’m only human’.” Ashe pressed him to repeat.

“I’m only human.”

“’I’m worth the effort’.”

“… I’m worth the effort.”

Satisfied, Ashe finally sat back, and Shane was able to let out the long breath he’d been holding. “Sorry, but hearing you say that you hate yourself is just… frustrating. There’s so much good about you that you don’t see.”

“Alright, Mr. Psychologist.” Shane leaned forward to rest his arms against his knees. “…. What exactly do you think is so good about me, anyway?”

“Are you kidding?” Ashe looked to him again, his eyes sparkling as his mind filled with what he admired about his friend. “You’re hardworking, you’re great with animals, you have this big huge heart that has so much love for Jas and Marnie and chickens and pepper poppers and pizza—”

“Okay, I get it—”

“—you never quit even when you’re fed up, you’re strong, you’re dedicated—”

“Ashe, you can stop now—”

“—you know so much about chickens, you’re funny, you’re kind, you’re handsome—” This time Ashe stopped himself, his face turning a brilliant crimson as he realized what had just slipped out; Shane had undeniably heard it too, as his own face became tinted red. They stared at each other for a moment before looking away, with both of them clearing their throats awkwardly. “Um… so, that’s… just some of the things that are great about you…”

Silence fell between them again. “… Thanks, Ashe.” Shane managed to utter, the corners of his mouth turning up just a little. “I don’t know how you do it, but you always manage to keep me from spiraling back down into that dark abyss. I really appreciate you…” This time it was him who had a slip of the tongue. “You doing that for me.” He quickly corrected as he cleared his throat again.

“Y-You don’t have to thank me for that…” Ashe hunched his shoulders a little as a shy smile came onto his face; hearing that from Shane made him really happy, even with the correction. “It’s what friends do.”

The tip of his fishing pole dipped down as he felt a tug on the line. “Oh!” Hastily he began to reel, sitting up a bit straighter as Shane watched. “Yay, I thought I was never going to get a bite. Maybe my luck’s finally turning around~”

“Is that why your day’s been shit?” Shane asked, resting his chin in his hand. “Bad luck?”

“Yeah. Today’s been really rough because of it—” As he spoke, the fish on the other end of the line was fighting tooth and nail, causing the pole to bend sharply. And as if to prove the point, the line abruptly snapped, causing the pole to whip back and smack Ashe square in the face with a sound that made Shane wince. “….”

“That… looked like it hurt.” Shane actually felt bad for him. “Shit, are you bleeding? Here, let go of the pole for a second.” Concerned, he took hold of Ashe’s hands to pry the pole out of them so he could get a look at his face, completely forgetting the tension that had been between the two of them a few moments prior. “Yeesh, yeah, looks like it cut the bridge of your nose… you really weren’t kidding about your luck, were you?”

“No….” Ashe felt a lump form in his throat as a thin trail of blood ran down from the small gash one of the guide rings on the pole had given him. He’d finally hit his breaking point. “No, I wasn’t…. everything I’ve tried today has gone wrong…”

“Ashe?” Shane heard the crumbling in his friend’s voice; before his eyes, the happy, bubbly, always sunny farmboy buried his face in his hands and hunched over, his shoulders heaving with silent sobs. “Whoa—h-hey, it’s gonna be okay. It’s just some bad luck. It’ll pass.”

Seeing Ashe break down like that actually hurt Shane’s crusty old heart. As much as he wanted to give him the same sort of comfort that Ashe had given to him when he was at his lowest, that just wasn’t something that came naturally to him. It was all he could do to pat his friend’s shoulder, and he hated that he couldn’t do more; the only other thing he could think to do was hug him, but… he wasn’t sure if that would be the right thing to do, for either of them. 

“I-I know…” Ashe felt stupid for crying over something so trivial, but he really couldn’t help it. It had all just gotten to him, especially since he’d gotten his hopes up that his luck was getting better. “I-I’m just being stupid…. I-I’m s-sorry…”

“Whoa, hey, you knock that crap off.” Shane was having none of that; if he wasn’t allowed to self-deprecate, then neither was Ashe. “Aren’t you the one always going on about how you can’t help how you feel? You don’t get to pick and choose what applies to me and what doesn’t apply to you, buddy. It either applies to us both, or neither, so you don’t get to say that about yourself. Say it with me now: ‘I love myself, and I’m only human’.”

“….” Ashe sniffled, peeking out from between his fingers with a tearful half-laugh; he’d gotten played at his own game. “I love myself… a-and I’m only human.” He repeated obediently, before he let himself fall backwards to lie back on the pier. “… Is this kind of how you used to feel…?”

“What, like everything you try to do is going to go wrong so why even bother? Yeah, that’s pretty much on point.” Shane leaned back against his hands, looking up at the crystal clear sky with Ashe as a gentle breeze brushed past them. “After awhile, you learn to stay in a shell… but… you showed me that things don’t have to stay that way if I don’t let them. That if I work hard enough, things will pass and get better. And that’s the truth for anyone, not just me. So cry if you need to cry. Get it all out of your system, so you can pick yourself back up and smile that dumb smile of yours again.”

“…. Hehe…” Just hearing that was enough to bring Ashe’s smile back. “I never thought I’d hear that kind of stuff coming from you~ That’s much nicer to hear than the stuff you used to say.”

“I’m pretty sure your blind optimism started rubbing off on me. I feel like such a tool saying cheesy shit like that.” The scratchiness in Shane’s throat made it almost impossible to finish what he was saying, feeling like he’d swallowed a load of pine needles that were all jabbing him in the back of it. The sensation made him sputter into a series of coughs, hastily covering his mouth and nose with the collar of his jacket as he turned away from Ashe to try and mask it.

“Shane?” Alarmed, Ashe quickly sat back up. “Are you okay?”

“F-Fine—” Shane held his hand up in an attempt to assure Ashe he was okay. “I-I’m f-fine—J-Just got a tickle i-in my throat–”

As if the coughing wasn’t bad enough, as if the scratchy, prickly throat wasn’t enough, a wave of dizziness slammed into him like a semi-truck out of nowhere, sending the world around him swaying from side to side. “Sh-shit…” He might have overdone it by coming out there for so long that day, especially under the blazing sun with nothing to drink.

More than a little worried, Ashe shifted closer, patting Shane’s back as his brows knitted together. “You don’t sound fine… Yoba, that cough sounds just awful.”

“I-I told you, I’m f-fine.” Shane tried to clear his throat to make the coughing stop, which didn’t actually do anything. Feeling something cool brush against his forehead, he realized that Ashe was trying to see if he had a fever, and instinctively knocked his hand away. “Q-Quit it, Ashe, I don’t like my f-face being touched.”

“You’re sick.”

Well, shit. “I-I am not. I don’t g-get… sick…” Trying to play it off, Shane’s attempt at deflection died in his throat as he saw the look on Ashe’s face. Why did the kid look like the world was ending? “D-Don’t give me that look. It’s… probably just a cold, it’s not a big deal.”

“It can turn into a big deal if you don’t take it seriously!” Ashe’s voice was oddly high pitched from his worry and panic. “You need to go back home and rest, right now!”

Maybe he was overreacting. In the back of his head, he knew he probably was. But he was terrified of losing someone precious to him again. “Come on. You’re going to go back home and get right back into bed.”

Shane suddenly found himself being literally pushed along back towards Marnie’s ranch, with the surprisingly strong Ashe behind him, his hands planted on the back of Shane’s shoulders to force him along whether he liked it or not. “Okay, you are seriously overreacting right now.” He said, trying not to prove his friend right by having another coughing fit; if anything, the kid was making him worse by stressing him out like this. “I told you, it’s probably just a weak-ass cold. Why are you making such a big deal about this?”

To his surprise, Ashe stopped pushing, making him feel just the tiniest bit bad for snapping at him like that. “…Because… because my mom thought what she had was ‘just a cold’. Because she didn’t think it was worth it to take care of herself.” His fingers tightly curled around fistfuls of the back of Shane’s jacket as he spoke, his voice much quieter than it usually was. “If… if I had just pushed her to rest, then she wouldn’t have… th-that’s why I can’t let it happen again…”

“…” Now Shane _really_ felt like an asshole, even though it wasn’t his fault. He… really had no idea what Ashe had been through, because Ashe never talked about himself like that. But now he knew why Ashe was acting so over the top; he was gripped by an irrational fear of watching that tragedy play out before his eyes once more. With that knowledge, Shane knew that there was only one way to assuage that fear. “Alright, alright… You win. I’ll take it easy today. So you don’t have to get so worked up over me.”

“…. Promise…?” Ashe’s voice had grown even quieter, his grip on Shane’s jacket loosening.

Shane turned around to look at his friend, who for a moment looked so small, and so… sad. “I promise.” He assured, patting the top of his head reassuringly like he would have to Jas. But the feeling he got when he did it was… different than it was with his goddaughter. “… Well, don’t just stand there. You gonna make sure I actually get my ass in bed, or what?”

The question worked as intended, getting a little half-laugh out of Ashe as he lifted his head and dried his misty eyes on the backs of his hands. “I’ll tie you to the bedposts if I have to.”

“Well aren’t you fucking kinky.” Shane snickered a little. Ashe didn’t seem to get why it was funny to him, instead just giving Shane another light push to get him moving again.


	12. August 26 - Part 2

As it turned out, Shane wasn’t the only one in the household with a cold. When the pair stepped into the shop, they could hear the sound of Jas coughing all the way from her room. “Ah, dammit…” Shane muttered, rubbing his face slowly as he let out a sigh. “That’s my fault for getting my germs all over the place.”

“Oh, there you are Shane.” Marnie heard his voice as she came into the shop area, sounding quite congested and stuffed up as she covered her mouth and nose with a kerchief. “Hello, Ashe. Sorry, but I’m closing up shop early today.”

“You too, Marnie?” Ashe’s anxiety cranked all the way up to 11 as he looked between her and Shane. Even though it was such a minor thing, it felt like he was living a nightmare right now.

Marnie laughed a laugh that turned into a gross-sounding cough. “Well, at least I know where we got it from.” She joked, seemingly to be taking it in stride.

“Shit, I’m sorry.” Shane apologized. “That fucking group of tourists probably dragged it in with them, and then I dragged it back with my sorry ass…”

“There’s no need to apologize.” Marnie waved her hand airily. “It happens. I’ll get some soup on for all of us—”

“Ohh no, you’re not doing anything but resting.” Ashe interrupted stubbornly, much to her surprise. “You get yourself to bed. I’ll take care of making something for you all to eat, so you just focus on getting better.”

Puzzled by how adamant Ashe was, Marnie looked to Shane, who shrugged his shoulders. “Better just go along with what he says.” He advised with a half-grin. “Otherwise he’ll never let us hear the end of it.”

“… Well, alright then.” Marnie laugh-coughed again. “I won’t turn down a bit of help. Thank you, Ashe.”

Hearing that did much to put Ashe’s mind at ease. “You don’t have to thank me, I haven’t done anything. Go on and rest up, okay? Both of you. I’ll run home and get some food made for you.”

“Would you mind flipping the OPEN sign to closed on your way out?” Marnie asked, to which Ashe nodded enthusiastically. “Thank you, sweetie. I appreciate it.” She couldn’t quite remember the last time she’d taken a sick day, but she could feel it in her bones that she very much needed it.

Shane watched Ashe traipse out the door, feeling just a little bit of concern as he remembered that Ashe was having a really unlucky day. _‘Hope he doesn’t burn himself trying to cook.’_ He thought to himself, as he and Marnie both headed into their rooms. Changing out of his clothes into his stretchy, breathable shorts and a tank top to sleep in, his mind filled with all sorts of scenarios that his friend could be getting himself into—burning himself, burning the food, burning his house down, cutting himself while trying to prepare the ingredients, tripping as he carried the hot food, running into the table…

 _‘No, enough of that.’_ He chastised himself as he got comfortable in his bed; he’d closed the blinds on his window and turned the TV on for some quiet background noise, so his room was warm and dark. He could feel his eyelids starting to grow heavy, having been more exhausted than he’d first thought he was. _‘Ashe is an adult, he can handle himself… still, though…’_ He didn’t get to finish that train of thought; unable to keep his eyes open any longer, he fell into a heavy, dreamless sleep.

It felt like he’d only just closed his eyes for a second before he felt a gentle hand shaking him from his sleep. “Shane…?” Ashe’s soft voice echoed in his drowsy brain, as he forced his heavy eyes open. “Sorry for waking you up… I brought some soup for you.”

“Ugh… alright, gimme a sec…” With a groan, Shane blindly fumbled for the light switch above his bedside table; he must have been asleep for at least a few hours, as the sunlight that had been peeking through the blinds was all but gone now. He felt considerably worse now, as though lying in bed had given all of the viruses inside his body the opportunity to come together in his muscles and in his head. It took a few seconds, but eventually his fingers found the switch and flicked on it, nearly blinding him as his messy room filled with artificial light. “I dunno how much I’ll be able to eat… uh…”

As he had been speaking, he’d pushed himself to sit up and look at Ashe, who was wearing one of those surgical masks that doctors often wore, and who had for some reason changed his T-shirt for a long sleeved one even though it was still warm outside. “That’s okay.” He said with a smile, holding a tray with a bowl of pale broth and a cup of fresh orange juice in his hands. “You just need to get something in your stomach.”

“Did you go and see Harvey or something?” Shane asked with a raised brow, as Ashe set the tray across his lap.

“Mmhm.” Ashe nodded his head, unconsciously tugging his right sleeve down to cover his hand just a bit more. “I just wanted to play it safe, you know?”

“Yeah, that’s probably smart…” Clearing his scratchy throat, Shane turned his attention to the food before him; he was glad at least that the soup was something plain, since it would be easy on his queasy stomach. It looked like it was also loaded with bits of chopped herbs. “… Kinda went crazy on the herbage, though.”

Ashe puffed his chest out proudly. “Yup. It’s another one of my mom’s recipes. She used to make it when I’d get sick. It’ll bust down a cold in no time, especially when you have orange juice to go along with it.”

“I see…” Shane thought back to the Luau, when he’d complimented his mother’s stuffed tomato recipe. _‘I guess this is his way of keeping her memory close.’_ He thought to himself. “In that case, I guess it’d be rude to not eat it.”

Even though he really wasn’t hungry, he picked up the spoon and dipped it into the broth. He was mostly doing it to put Ashe’s mind at ease, since he really doubted that a soup and drink could clear up a cold quickly. To his surprise, the soup had a very light flavor; it wasn’t bland, but it wasn’t extremely salty either, which was good since if it had more punch to it he wouldn’t be able to eat much of it. “This fresh squeezed?” He asked, referring to the juice as he picked up the glass to take a sip.

“Yup~ Fresh from my orange grove.” Ashe sat back on his legs, resting his hands in his lap as he watched Shane sip away on the soup and juice. “Today was actually the first time I’ve gotten a harvest from it, so I’m happy.”

“That so?” Shane took another drink. “Those are some quality oranges you’re growing…. You’ve got some real talent for farming. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’d grown up on a farm or something… Uh, you didn’t, did you?”

It was a question that caught Ashe unawares. “Ah… no. I actually grew up in the city. Not Zuzu,” he clarified, seeing the way Shane’s brows went up. “The Capitol. Well, the outskirts of the Capitol. We weren’t nearly rich enough to live in the city proper.” He looked down to his hands and gingerly picked at some fluff on his overalls. “… Maybe we would have had the money for it if Joja didn’t trick my mom into taking on grandpa’s debt.”

He didn’t know why he was saying all of this now. Ever since he’d come to the valley, Ashe had kept his mouth shut tight about his life before the move. He’d wanted so badly to just… put it all behind him, to move on and try to pick up the pieces of his life. But there was no escaping Joja no matter where he went, serving as a constant reminder to what he’d lost and could still lose. It was all something he wanted to keep to himself. But, he found himself able to open up to Shane… much like Shane had been able to open up to him. “… Sorry, I didn’t… mean to bring down the mood like that.” He mumbled in apology, after several seconds of silence between them.

“What are you apologizing for?” Shane glanced over to him as he took another spoonful of soup. “… If you need to talk about it, then talk about it. I’ll listen.”

Ashe jerked his head up to look at Shane, his eyes widening in surprise at the offer. “…. No, it’s okay…” He murmured. “I’m pretty sure I’d cry if I did, and nobody wants to deal with that. Thank you, though. It makes me happy that you care that much—OW!” The yelp escaped him unchecked, as a sharp pain shot up his right wrist from the way he’d been picking at the fluff.

It was sudden and abrupt enough to make Shane jump a little. “What was that?” He asked with raised brows. As Ashe fumbled around for an explanation, his eyes spotted what looked like thick bandages peeking out from under Ashe’s right sleeve. “Did you hurt yourself?”

“N-No, not at all!” Ashe insisted with a laugh, quickly trying to move his hand behind his back—but Shane was one step ahead of him, reaching out to grab onto his sleeve and yank his arm close to see for himself. “O-ow–!”

Unceremoniously, Shane shoved the sleeve up to Ashe’s elbow, revealing the splint that the farmer had been trying to hide. “Yeah, like you expect me to believe that.” He snorted, giving Ashe a pointed look. “What did you do?”

“I… might have fallen off the ladder when I was picking the oranges…” Ashe mumbled meekly, hunching his shoulders as Shane took his wrist in his hands to study it. “… Harvey said my wrist is probably broken, but he didn’t have any casting materials on hand…”

Shane’s eyebrows practically flew off of his face. “You idiot!” He chided, actually somewhat angry with Ashe for being so reckless and so stupid. “A break is serious! Fuck’s sake, why would you keep using it like nothing’s wrong? What would you do if something happened and you couldn’t use your hand anymore?”

“Shane–?” This time it was Ashe who was caught off-guard by Shane’s over the top reaction. “I—I’m sorry… I just wanted to do this for you guys…”

“….” With a sigh, Shane carefully tugged Ashe’s sleeve back down. It took him a moment, but he realized that he’d done exactly what Ashe had done with him earlier. He remembered what it had been like for him, a rising varsity gridball player, to lose everything because of an injury he could have prevented, and the thought of Ashe suffering that same fate made him lash out when he shouldn’t have. “No, I’m the one who should apologize.” He admitted with another sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I overreacted, and I shouldn’t have… But you really need to give that arm a break, especially until Harvey can get it in a cast. Promise me that you’ll at least put it in a sling until then.”

Blinking his eyes several times, Ashe realized that Shane was actually worried about him. “…. I promise.” He agreed with a meek smile. Shane was starting to get really good at turning his own tactics against him.

“Good boy.” Shane ate a few more spoonfuls of the broth and managed to drink the rest of the juice, before he called it quits; if he had any more, he was fairly certain he would end up heaving it all over the floor. “Thanks for taking care of us all tonight.” He thanked, as Ashe managed to pick up the tray with his left hand only. “Now you go home and take it easy yourself. Alright? I’m serious.”

“I will, I will.” Ashe assured him sheepishly. “Do you need anything before I go?”

“Nah, I’m fi—” Shane stopped mid-sentence, as his head throbbed painfully. “… Actually, would you mind grabbing some Tylenol from the medicine cabinet in the kitchen?”

“Of course.” With a little difficulty since he was trying not to use his injured hand, Ashe managed to get to his feet and take the tray out of the room with him. He’d already brought soup and juice to Jas and Marnie, so this was the only thing he had left to do before he headed home. “Right, medicine cabinet… medicine cabinet, medicine cabinet, medicine cabinet…”

By the time he found the Tylenol and gone back to Shane’s room, the man was already fast asleep, one arm tucked under his head as he quietly snored away. “….” Quietly so as not to disturb his rest this time, Ashe just set a few tablets and a glass of water on the bedside table in case he woke up later.

It was strange to see Shane’s face so peaceful; usually, he had this sort of permanent scowl on his face, except for when he was smiling or laughing of course. Seeing that his cheeks were still flushed somewhat, Ashe knelt down beside the bed again and gently brushed his knuckles against Shane’s face to feel his temperature. _‘He’s so warm… Yoba, he must feel awful…’_

His heart started to beat a little bit faster inside his chest as he slowly pulled his hand back. He didn’t know why it was doing that, why it felt like there were little butterflies in his stomach as he watched his friend sleep. _‘…. No… no, stop it! You’re being such a creep right now!’_ He gave himself a swift mental kick, finally making himself tear his eyes away from Shane as he got back to his feet. He had a feeling that, if he stayed there any longer, he might end up doing something really stupid…

“…. I hope you feel better in the morning…” He murmured, even though he knew that Shane couldn’t hear him. He made sure to turn the light off before he let himself out, ever so slightly shaken by the feelings that had come over him in that brief moment before he came to his senses. He just hoped that it was because he had such an off day, and not because he was some creep who watched people sleep…

The sound of a hammer on wood roused Ashe from his sleep the next morning; still half-asleep, he poked his head out from under the sheet he’d gotten himself tangled up in overnight, looking around blearily in search of the sound’s source. After his brain had a few moments to wake up and get working, he realized that the hammering was coming from outside the house—it actually sounded like it was focused on the front door itself. “What in the…?” He mumbled, stifling a yawn as he pushed himself to sit up and wincing a little as his broken wrist throbbed painfully. He’d done as Shane had told him to and put it in a sling, but that didn’t stop his sleeping self from lying on it for most of the night.

Outside the house, Shane carefully nailed in the last few nails to secure Ashe’s door back in place. “Finally…” It was definitely no Robin-quality patch job, but the door was back in its frame at least. For a guy with minimal carpentry experience, he felt pretty damn accomplished.

Almost as if on cue, the door opened, and a disheveled Ashe poked his head out to see what was going on. “Well look who decided to finally get out of bed.” Shane commented, raising his hand in greeting. “About time, ya lazy bones.”

“Shane?” Ashe rubbed the sleep from his eyes, thoroughly confused. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you still be resting?”

“Nope.” Shane grabbed the toolbox at his feet and moved it out of the way. “That soup and the juice sent my cold packing. Same with Marnie and Jas. I actually came over to bring you some cookies that we made to thank you, but you were still asleep, and I saw that your door was busted, so I figured the least I could do was try and fix it for you. Not bad, huh?”

“….” It was clear that Ashe was still in the middle of waking up, as he just stood there blinking for several seconds. “You… fixed my door?” He repeated, stepping out onto the porch to see for himself. “Yeah, it looks really good. Better than what I could have done…” He looked to Shane in thankful confusion. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Shane snorted. “Yeah, I know.” He answered with a grin. “I wanted to, though. I woke up feeling a hell of a lot better than I did the other day.”

“Really?” Hearing that put a smile onto Ashe’s face. “I’m glad. See, I told you my mom’s recipe would do the trick~”

“Consider me a believer.” Shane was relieved to see that smile again; he’d missed it more than he’d realized. “How’s your wrist, by the way?”

“Ah—” Ashe looked down to his slinged arm. “It… still hurts a little.” He admitted. “I probably slept on it for most of the night. Harvey said he would call when he got the stuff to make casts with, so hopefully it won’t be too long…” Looking out to his farm, he realized that the sun was quite high in the sky. “Um… what time is it?”

“Well, it was just about 8 when I left the ranch to fix your door.” Shane checked the watch on his wrist. “And it’s just now hit 8:30, so I gotta get moving before I’m late for work.”

“8… 8:30….” Ashe stood there for a moment. “…. AAAAAH! I SLEPT SO LATE!” He suddenly burst out, looking completely panicked as the realization hit him. “I’m never going to finish everything before the day’s over!” He was so caught up in the panic of running late that he gave Shane a hasty hug as a thank-you. “Thanks for fixing the door Shane! Have a good day at work! See you later!”

He bolted back into the house to change, leaving Shane just standing there, listening to the sounds of him crashing around frantically.

 _‘Th-that was close…’_ Shane thought, covering his mouth with his hand as he briskly headed off for work. If Ashe had hugged him for any longer, he might have actually been tempted to do something… 


	13. Moonlight Jellies - Part 1

“C’monnn Shane, get the lead out of your butt!” Jas’s voice was filled with excitement as she turned around to look back at her uncle, bouncing up and down on the heels of her feet as she waited impatiently for him to catch up. “Jeez, you’re soooo slow!”

“Squirt, I only have one speed and it’s this.” Shane was grinning all the same; it was cute how excited Jas was for the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies. It was one of those festivals that when you described it to someone, didn’t sound that exciting. But oddly enough, actually experiencing it was something almost indescribable. It was like the valley’s farewell to summer and hello to fall, since by the time the festival came around, the temperatures usually dropped, rain became more frequent, and the flora began the transition from leafy greens to warm reds and oranges.

This year, he could feel his stomach doing somersaults with each step he took towards the beach. Marnie’s suggestion to him was still very much fresh in his mind, and he’d spent the entire day arguing with himself inside his head whether or not he should go through with the idea. He still didn’t know which answer was the right one. Maybe there was no right answer. Part of him wondered if he should just do what the characters in Jas’ favorite stories did and ‘follow his heart’, since it always seemed to work out well for them.

The festival was always held late, usually starting at 10PM but sometimes earlier, depending on how quickly the daylight faded. There was no actual dancing done; it was a bit of a misnomer, to be honest. Every year, the moonlight jellyfish would pass by Pelican Town on their way through the Gem Sea to who knows where. Nobody knew exactly when it was discovered, but the jellies were attracted to light, and so everyone would send out little paper boats with candles in them to attract the jellies closer. The jellyfish themselves emitted an ethereal sort of glow, which was why the festival was deemed one of the more ‘romantic’ ones held in town. More than a few couples had gotten together over the years on that day.

As expected, the beach was already filled with the other townsfolk by the time Shane and Jas got there; Marnie had already left quite some time before them, saying that she wanted to help Lewis with the last minute preparations. It was pretty common knowledge in town that the two had a thing for one another, but there was an unspoken rule that everyone followed about not mentioning it. “Alright squirt, let’s go find Marnie and get a spot before all the good ones get taken.”

“So, you excited to see the jellies?” Abigail asked Ashe, as they, Sebastian and Sam all stood together at the end of the pier. “I’m excited, and I get to see them every year.”

“Hm?” Ashe had been lost in thought for the past few minutes, completely zoned out to the conversation the three had been having without him; he hadn’t even realized that Sam and Seb were still taking turns drawing on his new cast, he was so out of it. “Oh, um… yeah, I’m looking forward to it~ I’ve heard they’re beautiful.”

“They sure are.” Sam shared a grin with Sebastian as he passed the sharpie back to him. They’d started a game of tic-tac-toe with the cast as the paper to pass the time until the jellies arrive. “Boy, you must _really_ have Shane on the brain tonight. You’re so out of it.”

His comment made Ashe’s face turn a brilliant crimson, and the three of them laughed at the predictable reaction. “H-How did you know?”

“You’re so obvious.” Sebastian lightly flicked his forehead before digging his cigarettes out of his pants pocket; there was just enough of a chill in the air that night that everyone had traded their shorts in for pants, except for Ashe, who had traded his shortalls for proper overalls, and Linus, who was used to the less extreme temperature changes and was wearing the same spotted tunic as ever. “Something needs to happen with you two. We can feel the sexual tension between you from across town.”

“I dunno, I think it’s cute how they’re playing hard to get with each other.” Abigail laughed at the look on Ashe’s face. “You’re both crushing so hard for one another~ My RP group and I already ship you guys.”

“I still can’t believe you ship people in real life.” Sebastian stuck a cigarette in his mouth as he just shook his head at her. “That’s just… no. Stop that.”

Abigail responded by sticking her tongue out at him with a ‘try and make me’ grin; out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shane and Jas strolling onto the beach. “Oh. Look who’s here, Ashe~” She teased, lightly nudging Ashe with her elbow to get his attention. “This could be your big chance.”

Glancing over to see if she was telling the truth, Ashe’s heart skipped a beat in his chest. There really would be no better time to come out and say how he felt. It was embarrassing that his friends were egging him on to do it, though… “… I’m gonna go talk to him.” He finally said, watching as Shane walked Jas over to where Marnie was waiting. “J-Just to talk!” He clarified, as the three of them broke into shit-eating grins. “Jeez, you guys… can you please give it a rest?”

Before he could talk himself out of it, he swiftly strolled away from their group. “…. Do you think we pushed the issue a bit too much?” Sam asked guiltily.

“It needed to be done.” Sebastian shifted to sit down, exhaling a plume of smoke as he contemplated a job well done. “If we didn’t pick at him like that he wouldn’t have done anything, and I _cannot_ watch them be super awkward with each other anymore.” 

“There you two are.” Marnie greeted her nephew and niece with a smile as they approached. “I was starting to get worried. Did something happen?”

“Yeah, Jas couldn’t find her bunny-jewel slippers.” Shane lightly ruffled Jas’ hair. “She insisted on wearing them for some reason, so we had to practically tear her room apart trying to find them. Turns out they’d gotten between the bed and the wall.”

Hearing that made the portly woman laugh. “Well then, if that isn’t a lesson in keeping a tidy room then I don’t know what is.” Kneeling down to the child’s level, she offered her a grape popsicle from the little freezer that she and Lewis had stocked full. “Lucky for you, the jellies haven’t passed by yet.”

Beaming at the treat, Jas tore the top open with her teeth. “I hope there are babies this year!” She declared enthusiastically, drawing a laugh from her guardians. It was something she wished for every year, without fail.

“Well, I guess we should pick a spot.” Shane ruffled her hair again with a grin before tucking his hands into his pockets. “… I need to take care of something first. Don’t wait up for me if the show starts before I get back.”

“Alright, hun.” She wouldn’t let it show, but Marnie had an inkling as to what he was going to be doing. “Come on Jas, I’m sure Vincent has been waiting patiently for you.” Taking hold of Jas’ hand, she led her niece towards the docks, leaving a nervous Shane to tug at the collar of his shirt as he looked around. _‘Good luck, Shane.’_

 _‘Alright… let’s see how things play out.’_ Shane thought to himself, scanning the dock for that familiar yellow headband. Imagine his surprise when he spotted it moving towards him, as though Ashe was also looking for him in that moment. “Oh. Hey, Ashe. I was just looking for you.” He greeted, feeling his heart jump up into his throat as the farmer approached.

“Really?” Ashe laughed nervously as he came to stand before him, feeling his palms become sweaty from his nerves.

“Yeah.” Somewhat awkwardly, Shane rubbed the back of his neck with a nervous half-laugh of his own. “I actually… well…”

For a brief moment, a painful silence fell between them, as they both wrestled with what they wanted to say. “… Can we talk?” Ashe finally managed to ask, looking up at his friend as he anxiously played with his fingers. “A-away from everyone?”

Shane’s eyebrows raised. “Oh, uh… sure.” He agreed, relieved that Ashe had been the one to ask it. With a jerk of his head, he gestured towards the east side of the beach, where they were guaranteed to have some privacy.


	14. Moonlight Jellies - Part 2

Silently, the two of them crossed the thin wooden plank used to bridge the gap between the two sides, moving away from the dim light cast by the sparse torches towards the north. “Soooo, uh…. What is it that you wanted to talk about, bud?”

Ashe didn’t say anything at first; to be honest, he hadn’t thought this far ahead. Being put on the spot like this just made it even harder for him to think. “I-I just… have something I need to say.” He began slowly, playing with one of the buttons on his overalls just to give his hands something to do as they slowly walked along the shore. “And I… really, really don’t know how to say it, but I’m gonna try.”

They came to a stop near the water’s edge, just out of reach of the gently lapping waves. “You… I mean, we… er….” He started and stopped several times, feeling his face heat up each time it happened. “… Do you remember that one really bad day we had a couple weeks ago? You asked me what I thought was good about you, and I just started going on and on…” 

“Yeah, I remember.” Shane tucked his hands back into his pockets, somehow managing to look calm and cool despite his heart beating loudly inside his chest.

“W-Well…” Ashe swallowed a little and let out a shaky breath. “I meant every word, you know? But it wasn’t just what I thought was good about you… it was everything that I liked about you, too. That’s why that last one slipped out, and…” He fidgeted a little, slowly hunching his shoulders as he worked up the courage to just say it. “….. I like you.” He finally blurted out, making Shane jump a little from how sudden it was. “I like you… so much that I can’t stand it sometimes!”

Without realizing it, he’d screwed his eyes shut, clutching his hands against his chest as he said the words that he’d been wanting to say for the longest time, his entire frame shaking now as he waited for some kind of response from Shane—a rejection was what he was expecting the most, to be honest, and it was what he was most afraid of. He was sure that Shane would want someone closer to his own age, that he just saw Ashe as a little brother.

They were the same doubts that Shane had harbored himself up to that moment, except that he hadn’t had the courage to come out and say anything like Ashe had. But now that he knew that they both had the same feelings, nothing could stop him from reaching out to cup the smaller male’s face and pulling him close until their lips connected.

“Mmf–!” The tiniest noise of surprise escaped Ashe’s mouth, only to be silenced as Shane slipped his tongue inside. It was a little intense, sure, but he couldn’t stop himself once he felt how soft and plush Ashe’s lips really were, how warm they felt against his own. It really did feel like a dream, except not even in his wildest dreams did he ever think it would feel this good to kiss him.

After a few brief seconds, Shane pulled back to let them both catch their breath; the world had seemed to stand still in the moment, but now it roared back to life—the crash of the waves, the smell of the salt on the wind as it blew in from the ocean, the sound of chatter coming from the docks a few hundred feet away. “I feel the same about you.” He murmured, gently brushing his thumb against Ashe’s cheek as their foreheads pressed together; shyly, Ashe leaned into his touch, his hands still tightly grasping at the front of his overalls. “I have for awhile… I was just too afraid of scaring you away to say anything. You could have your pick of anyone in town, and I didn’t think I had a snowball’s chance in hell.”

“Ah….” Ashe blinked slowly in surprise at those words. Here he’d been afraid of speaking up for that exact same reason. “….” Shyly, he tiptoed closer, until he was leaning completely against Shane. “There’s no one else that even comes close to how much I like you.” He mumbled, hiding his face in the older man’s chest. “I wanna be with you.”

His cheeks flaring red from just how cute that was, Shane covered his mouth with one hand, taking a second to compose himself before he tried to speak again; with just a little bit of hesitation, he wrapped his arms around Ashe’s slender frame and hugged him close. “I guess that goes double for me.”

For the longest moment, they stayed like that, feeling the way that their hearts both raced inside their chests; they were both as nervous as the other, almost as much as they had been when they first set out to talk. “… We should probably head back.” Shane commented as he cleared his throat, not making any moves to let go of Ashe just yet. “We’re going to miss the jellies if we take much longer. I would say that we’re going to give people ideas, too, but… I’m pretty sure that the whole damn town’s been waiting for us to get together.”

“Y-Yeah.” Ashe likewise made no move to separate from Shane. It felt nice to be held like that. “… Would it be okay if… Y-You know what, nevermind, it’s—”

“Do you want to watch with me and Marnie and Jas?” Shane offered, almost as if he’d read Ashe’s mind. “I understand if you’d rather watch with Sebastian and the others… but I know Jas would be happy if you joined us. Marnie too. And… I’d be happy too, of course.”

Ashe’s face lit up like the jellies in the distance. “Y-yes! I’d love to watch with you guys.” It was what he wanted to ask, after all. He’d just been worried about pushing things too much too quickly; this was his first relationship.

His response made Shane grin. “Great. Here, let’s get a move on.” He released Ashe from his embrace, and the two began to walk briskly back towards the others, with Ashe happily hugging Shane’s arm as they walked. It was a little embarrassing, but if it made him happy, then Shane sure as hell wasn’t going to stop him.

“There you are!” Jas huffed as they approached. “Jeez, you always take so long to do things! Hurryyyyy, we’re gonna send the boats out!”

“I told you, I only have one speed I can go at.” Shane was more than a little winded by the time he and Ashe got to where Jas and Marnie were waiting on the docks. “I’m hustling as fast as I can.”

“You’re fine, Shane.” Marnie laughed, passing him a paper boat with a candle inside. “You two don’t mind sharing one to send out, do you?” She asked with a knowing twinkle in her eye.

Of course there was no hiding anything from her, not that Shane expected to anyway. “Nope, that’s fine.” He answered. Marnie passed Ashe a match box to light the candle with, and the two of them went to the edge of the dock. “You know how to handle matches, right?” He asked, eying Ashe as he slid a match out from the matchbook.

“Mmhm.” They crouched down, and Shane held the boat close to him; as Ashe dragged the head of the match against the striker, filling the air with the acrid burning smell that was characteristic of the medium as the head ignited. Carefully, he lit the wick of the candle inside the boat, and Shane managed to lean down and set it in the water, giving the vessel a good push to send it on its way. Around them, everyone else did the same, filling the pitch-black surface of the sea with dots of warm light as the boats sailed away.

Within just a few moments, the brilliant glow of hundreds of jellyfish drew near, illuminating the ocean like stars in the sky above. It was the kind of sight that took your breath away with just how simple and beautiful it was, how elegant the jellies were as they glided effortlessly through the water like ghosts through air.

“Auntie, Auntie!!!” Jas whispered excitedly, grabbing onto Marnie’s arm and jumping up and down. “I see _babies_!!!” It was a wish finally come true, as dozens of tiny jellies drifted alongside the adults towards the docks.

“Shhh.” Marnie tried to shush her, while she simultaneously tried not to laugh at Jas’ reaction. “You’ll frighten them away if you make that much noise.”

“Heh, she’s never going to stop talking about tonight.” Shane chuckled, shifting to sit on the edge of the dock so he wasn’t killing his back by crouching anymore. “She’s wanted to see babies for years.” As he spoke, he casually took hold of Ashe’s hand and laced their fingers together.

“I wish I could get that excited about things.” Ashe felt his cheeks heat up, smiling bashfully as he moved to sit on his knees. After a few minutes, he noticed a peculiar green glow amidst the sea of white and blue, leaning forward a little to try and get a better look. “… Hey, Shane? Do you see that too?”

Indeed, Shane did. To their amazement, a dazzling green jellyfish was drifting ever so lazily towards them, parting the other jellies like it was royalty amongst them. It came right up to where Ashe was, lingered for just a moment, and almost seemed to reach out to the farmer. “Ah…. Hello there.” Enraptured, Ashe leaned forward even more, reaching out with his own hand—only for the moment to be shattered as the tide began to carry the jellies away, back out towards the open sea.

“I don’t think I’ve _ever_ seen a green jelly before.” Shane was awestruck. “Old Willy’s mentioned them before, but this is the first time I’ve seen one with my own eyes… damn…”

“I wonder why it came up to me…” Ashe sat back, leaning against Shane a little as they watched the jellies return to the distance. “…. I wish they could have stayed a little longer.”

“Yeah, I kind of do too.” Shane gave his hand a squeeze. “But they have their own thing they gotta do. We’re lucky they decide to stop here on the way.”

The Dance of the Moonlight Jellies had never been a lively festival. It was always a peaceful one, a quiet, introspective one. There wasn’t an official end to it, either; people would just leave as they saw fit, whether because they had seen their fill or because they couldn’t stay awake long enough to watch anymore. In a sense, it wasn’t even really a festival. It just was what it was.

Before long, the four of them—Shane, Ashe, Jas and Marnie—got ready to head home as well. “Come along, little missy.” Marnie coaxed a sleepy Jas. “Let’s get you off to bed.”

“Okay…” Too tired to protest, Jas tiredly rubbed at her eyes as she looked to Shane expectantly.

Seeing where Jas was looking, Marnie knelt down to her level and smiled. “Shane will head back a bit later.” She explained, taking hold of Jas’ hand as she spoke. “He’s going to make sure Ashe gets home safe first. Okay?”

“Oh, okay…” It made sense to Jas, who nodded her head with a yawn. “Night, Mr. Ashe…” She bid, letting Marnie lead her away.

“Good night, Jas.” Ashe waved with a smile. “Yoba, she’s so cute.”

“Yeah….” Shane was a little embarrassed that Marnie seemingly read his mind, though he guessed it didn’t exactly take a rocket scientist to figure out that’s what he was going to do. “You’re pretty cute too, you know.”

The compliment earned a surprised little ‘meep’ from Ashe, who turned a bright shade of red. Hearing that from Shane made him… really happy. He didn’t know what to say to that, so instead, he hugged onto Shane’s arm and buried his face in his shoulder. “We should get going.” He mumbled, his voice muffled by the sleeve of Shane’s shirt.

“Pfft… alright, alright.” Shane got a bit of a kick out of that reaction. He’d have to try and get a similar one sometime.

Lingering off to the side as everyone else left, the three amigos watched the pair head off as well. “Well, would you look at that.” Sam observed with a huge grin on his face.

“Mission successful.” Sebastian fist-bumped Abigail in victory. “See, I told you things would work out.”

“They look so happy together~” Abigail couldn’t help the happy little jig that came over her at the sight. “I wish I’d brought my phone so I could take a picture for the RP group. It’s almost like something you’d read in a storybook, so I dunno if they’ll believe me when I tell them it finally happened.”

“It’s not any of their business.” Exhaling a cloud of smoke, Sebastian ground out the butt of his cigarette into the sand and stuck it into the little container he kept tucked inside his shirt pocket. “It’s not any of our business now. They deserve at least that much.”

He played it off with his usual deadpan tone, but he was just as happy for his friend as Sam and Abigail were. And they were happy for Shane, too. Just like how everyone wordlessly agreed not to speak about Marnie and Lewis, there was already an unspoken agreement to not bring up Shane and Ashe—it was just how the town handled budding relationships, out of respect for those involved. Except for in one very specific situation… “Alright, what are the bets on when they tie the knot?”


	15. September 7

There really was nothing like a crisp autumn morning. The cool breeze, the smell of falling leaves, the crunch they made underfoot, the vivid colors that painted the landscape… It was like the entire valley had been set on fire, except it was just beautiful instead of destructive.

Autumn was also the busiest season for farmers. There was much work that needed to be done in preparation for a long winter—crops to plant, hay to stockpile, coops (and now a barn) to weatherize. There was also the rapidly upcoming Stardew Valley Fair to prepare for, an event that Ashe was much more nervous about than he even realized.

But there was no time to even think about the fair at the moment, not when there was work to do. “Just… a couple… more… whacks….. _there_.” Ashe huffed as he finished securing the wooden fence he’d erected around his newly expanded fields. They’d gotten big enough to separate into different sections to allow for crop rotation, meaning he _shouldn’t_ have to drop so much money on fertilizer to keep the soil healthy. “Okay! Let’s see about getting those sprinklers set up…”

A hand reached out from behind him and lightly grabbed the side of Ashe’s head, pulling him back ever so slightly. “Talking to yourself again?” Shane asked with a raised brow as he looked down to Ashe’s surprised face.

“Ah—” The sight of him made Ashe’s eyes light up, and he somewhat awkwardly twisted himself around to throw his arms around his boyfriend. “Shane~! What are you doing here, I thought you worked on Mondays?”

“I do.” Shane grinned at the enthusiastic reaction to seeing him, loosely hooking his arms around Ashe’s waist as he hugged him back. “Sam wanted to pick up an extra shift this week though, and instead of forking out to have an extra employee on a Monday Morris just told me to not come in today.” He shrugged nonchalantly; it was no skin off his nose, he was fine with trading some free time for a smaller paycheck. “Oh oh, look at this.”

With an uncharacteristic amount of glee, he dug a rolled up magazine out from his pocket and flipped to a full two-page spread article and held it out so Ashe could see. “My blue chickens were featured in this month’s issue of the Poultry Periodical!”

“No way!” Ashe shifted to stand beside Shane, craning his neck so he could quickly read over the article. Sure enough, there it was in black and white—well, full color, a picture of Shane standing with a few of those beautiful blue hens he had raised so carefully, alongside a long article praising the unique plumage and rich eggs that the birds produced. “Aaaah, that’s awesome Shane! Congratulations!”

Shane’s chest swelled with pride. “Heh, thanks. Yoba, I feel… I actually feel really proud of myself.” He still couldn’t quite believe it himself, even as he stared down at the proof in his hands. He was in a _magazine_. Not just as a little footnote, but actually in a full spread, with quotes from an interview he’d given the author over the phone a couple of weeks ago. It really felt like he was getting his life together. “I’m gonna get this article framed. I’m so _fucking_ happy.” 

“You should be!” Ashe took hold of Shane’s hands and beamed up at him. “You’ve been working hard, you deserve the recognition.”

“You think so?” Shane asked, his face flushing a little as Ashe stood on his tiptoes and shyly pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Ohh… Was that my reward?”

“I-It could be, if you wanted.” Ashe’s cheeks were red as well as he rested back on his feet; they were still getting used to the idea of being together, still in that sort of awkward phase where they weren’t sure how much physical affection they should be showing.

Still, Shane couldn’t deny that it was a good reward. “Well now I just want to earn another.” He admitted with a grin as he rubbed the back of his neck. “… So what have you been up to? I barely got to see you yesterday.”

“Ah, I’m sorry…” Ashe poked his fingertips together guiltily. “I just had so much stuff I wanted to get done…”

“I can tell.” Shane looked around at the farm, whistling as he took in everything that had changed since he last visited; the fields had at least doubled in size, as did the free range space for the hens and the pasture space for the barn animals. “How’s that baby heifer doing?”

“Oh, you mean Hanako? She’s doing great~” As if on cue, he felt something tugging at his sleeve. “Ah, speak of the devil, there she is.” He laughed, lifting his arm to reveal the fat little calf who was eagerly trying to eat the fabric. “I think she’s trying to tell me it’s feeding time.”

“She’s looking pretty good.” Shane commented, as Ashe dug a large calf-sized bottle from his rucksack to feed her with; it had only been a week since Ashe took her home, and she’d already grown quite a lot in just that short period of time. “You sure it’s okay to let her roam like this, though?”

“Mmhm.” Ashe held the bottle upside down to simulate a cow’s udder, and Hanako eagerly latched on, her ears twitching as she went to town on the formula inside. “Hanako’s a good girl, she doesn’t wander very far. Do you, sweetie? No, that’s right, cos you’re the goodest of girls~” Even though the calf was quite clearly focused on sucking down as much formula as possible, she obviously heard Ashe’s praise, her tail swishing back and forth energetically like a dog’s would.

It was on an impulse that Ashe decided to take the little heifer, whose mother had sadly passed away during labor. Shane and Marnie had been wondering what to do about the poor little thing, since raising an orphan took a huge amount of effort—and there was no guarantee that, even with the best care, they would make it. But when Ashe had looked at Hanako’s sweet little face, he insisted then and there that Marnie let him buy her. From the looks of things, it seemed like it was working out pretty well.

“You sure have a way with animals.” Shane observed, tucking the magazine back into his jacket and then shoving his hands into his pockets. As he thought about it, though, he began to comprehend just how much Ashe was taking on. “… You sure you can handle all of this?” He asked, taking another look around; those fields were pretty expansive at this point, making up the bulk of the work that Ashe did on the farm—it had to take him a good couple of hours to get the soil watered every day. He’d filled up the coop as well by that point, and Shane could hear the hens happily clucking away as they searched for little bugs to graze on. Now there was Hanako, a baby who needed constant attention and supervision. And that was just everything that was on the farm, not even accounting for the stuff that Ashe got up to around town.

“Yup!” Ashe pried the bottle away from Hanako once it was completely empty. “If I didn’t think I could manage, I wouldn’t be doing all of it.” He smiled cheerily up at Shane and thumped his fist against his chest confidently. “There’s nothing to worry about! I’ve got everything under control.”

“If you say so…” Shane found it hard to believe, but he just had to trust that Ashe knew his limits.

“Besides, I’m working on ways to make things easier.” Ashe gestured for Shane to follow him over to the shed; he rummaged around inside for a minute, before pushing out a wheelbarrow filled to the brim with a sprinkler system just waiting to be installed. “I dropped some serious G on this~ It’ll cut down on my watering work by at least half!” His eyes sparkled. “That means I can plant even _more_ crops!”

“That’s good, but don’t overdo it, okay?” Shane could feel sweat forming on his forehead just thinking about the amount of work Ashe was piling onto himself. “What kind of crops are you growing?”

Pleasantly surprised by the question, Ashe led him over to the fields to show him. “Let’s see… this field has yams, beets and artichokes.” He began, climbing up onto the wooden fence and leaning on the top as he spoke. “Then this one has cranberries and eggplants. That little one off to the left near the beehouses I’ve filled with fairy rose, since it’ll make the bees nice and happy~ I’ve also got some green grapevines started near there too—green grapes are the best grapes—and then this field here,” he gestured to the one directly before them, “is entirely pumpkins. I spent most of my earnings from last season just on pumpkin seeds.”

“That’s… a lot of pumpkins.” Shane leaned against the fence as well. It was a lot of crops just in general. “Would you be willing to save a pumpkin for me when they come in? Jas already won’t stop talking about wanting to carve her own jack-o-lantern this year.” He grinned a little and continued, “Marnie doesn’t want to let her handle any knives, but the kid’s gotta live a little. Besides, it can be our little secret.”

“Aww, you’re so evil.” Ashe giggled a little at Shane’s plans. “Of course I’ll save a pumpkin for you guys… Actually, why don’t you bring her here to pick out one when they’re all ready to be harvested? That way she can get the perfect pumpkin.”

“You sure?” Shane rubbed his chin in thought. “She’d probably get a kick out of that. But yeah, if that’s fine with you then it’s fine with me. I appreciate it.”

Ashe gave him a million dollar smile. “The perks of dating a farmer~” He joked playfully. “Seriously, though, if you guys need anything that I’m growing just let me know.”

“What, you’re going to put in all that hard work and just give everything away?” Shane lightly bopped the top of his head. “You’re too generous for your own good.”

“Who, me? Not even.” Ashe just laughed.

It felt really nice to just take a break and talk like this. It was always nice, of course, when he and Shane had gotten together and hung out before they started dating, but now it was even more fun and relaxing.

“Would you two kindly take your flirting to another room?” And then there was Percy breaking up their good time, having been listening to their conversation from his side of the farm. “Not everyone wants to see that, you know.” The posh rancher clucked his tongue as he came up to the dividing fence on horseback, as if to show off his purebreed stallion while he shit all over their fun.

“Why don’t you fuck off and mind your own business, asshole?” Shane snorted, his smile instantly evaporating into a scowl at the interruption.

Elegantly dismounting the horse, Percy let out a dramatic sigh. “Always so quick to jump to expletives. Surely your vocabulary is larger than that.”

“C’mon Percy, could you please leave us alone?” Ashe was slightly exasperated by his rival’s presence. “We’ll keep our voices down a bit if it bothers you that much, okay–?”

“Ashe, don’t.” Shane insisted, refusing to let Ashe pander like that to someone who didn’t deserve it. “Nothing’s stopping him from getting back on that horse and going somewhere he can’t see or hear us.”

“And nothing’s stopping you two from taking it elsewhere.” Percy pointed out, daintily pointing his finger towards one of the numerous exits off the property. “It’s not like there’s anything of note to see on his farm, anyway. I don’t know why he was so proud to show it off to you.”

Steam practically poured out of Ashe’s ears at the comment. “We’ll see if you still think that way when my grange display beats yours at the fair.” He responded, absolutely fuming at the insults being hurled at his hard work.

“Oh? You seriously think you have a chance of winning?” Percy laughed haughtily. “My dear farmboy, your chances of winning at the fair are about the same as you winning our bet—that is to say, slim to none.” His condescending eyes fell upon Hanako, who had been following Ashe around like a puppy the whole time. “Oh my word, and now you’ve gone and picked up a poor little calf. I feel sorry for the little thing. In fact, I’m tempted to take her off your hands. How much would it take for you—”

“ _Screw. You._ ” Ashe went from fuming to livid at Percy’s offer. “She’s not for sale.” Worried that he might actually blow his lid if this continued, he took hold of Hanako’s lead in one hand and Shane’s hand in the other and pulled them both along, away from Percy, who triumphantly smirked after them.

“How do you put up with having him as a neighbor?” Shane asked incredulously, as Ashe practically dragged them over to the pasture so he could put Hanako in it.

“I don’t know.” Ashe’s hands were shaking as he pushed the gate open and let Hanako in. “I’m actually so angry right now that I can’t think straight. Does he really think that I’m so desperate for money that I’ll just sell family members like that?” Yes, to him each and every animal on his farm was his family, and he wouldn’t trade any of them for anything.

Seeing the way that Ashe was trembling, Shane reached out and pulled him back into a hug. “Deep breaths.” He murmured, calling on one of the coping techniques his therapist had taught him. “I’m pissed too, but don’t let that asshole get to you like this.”

“Rrrg…” Reluctantly, Ashe took several deep breaths at Shane’s encouragement. Something had to change between him and Percy; he didn’t think he could handle much more of that antagonizing. “… Can we take a walk or something? I think I just need to get away for a few minutes…”

“Sure.” Shane released Ashe from his arms so the farmer could latch and lock the gate, and give Hanako a hug through the gaps in the fence. “You know what, I think I know where we can go. Unless you had something in mind, of course.”

Curious, Ashe cocked his head to the side; he certainly didn’t have anywhere specific in mind he wanted to go. “No, I don’t…. where are we going, then?”

Early on in the summer, a rare earthquake had hit the valley; it wasn’t anything serious, no damage had been reported or anything, it had just been enough to startle the townsfolk (and the animals, who were pretty freaked out for awhile after). But what it _had_ done was break up the rockfall that had been blocking the path to mountains north of Robin’s workshop. The path itself was winding and a little steep at parts, eventually opening up into a clearing where a single train track ran through, with an old abandoned train station serving as a reminder of the town’s history as a mining town. A little further past that stood a bath house, which somehow had survived the test of time and remained mysteriously well maintained and clean—and _functional_ , though that wasn’t the reason why Shane wanted to bring Ashe there.

“ _Huff… huff…._ ” More than a little winded, Shane kept a firm hold on Ashe’s left hand as he led the curious farmer to a lookout point just beyond the back of the bathhouse. “Yoba, I’m out of shape… O-Okay, we’re here.”

The entirety of the valley stretched out for hundreds of miles before them, making Ashe’s eyes widen in awe. It was the sort of view that made you hold your breath, the kind that people would travel for days just to get a brief glimpse of. “I didn’t even know this was here…”

“I-I didn’t either, not until Sam told me about it during one of our lunch breaks.” Shane let go of Ashe’s hand and doubled over, planting his hands against his knees as he tried to catch his breath. “Hell of a view, isn’t it? We’re so far away from the rest of town, you could probably yell at the top of your lungs and nobody would be able to hear it.”

“….” Ashe looked thoughtful for a few seconds, before bringing his hands up to cup around his mouth. “AAAAAAAAAASSHOOOOOOOOOOOOLE!” He yelled as loud as he could, putting all of his pent up anger and frustration at Percy into his voice. It was extremely cathartic, and he could practically feel all those negative emotions leaving him with the air in his lungs.

Shane couldn’t help but snicker as he straightened up, and the echo of Ashe’s voice faded away. “I yelled that exact same thing when I first came here.” He commented with a grin, as Ashe let his hands fall back to his side. “I was really pissed off at Morris that day. Probably spent a good hour just calling him every name I could think of. Hell, I’m pretty sure I even made up a few. So, feel any better?”

“A little bit, yeah.” Ashe smiled sheepishly at him as he clasped his hands behind his back. He could tell that the walk there had really taken a lot out of Shane, no matter how much he was trying to play it off. “Thanks, Shane. I really appreciate you bringing me here.”

That smile made the walk up the mountain completely worth it to Shane. “I’m glad it helped.” He smiled a little himself, hooking his thumbs into his pockets as he looked out to the valley stretching out before them. “Everyone needs a place they can go to get away.”

A peaceful quiet fell between the two as they stood there, taking in the view and enjoying the pleasantly warm breeze that was blowing. The weather would only be getting colder from then on, but that day, it was perfect. It was only when Hanako’s feeding timer went off in Ashe’s rucksack, reminding them of the passage of time, that they began the trip back down the mountain path, parting ways once they got to the carpenter’s shop—as much as Ashe wanted to, he couldn’t monopolize Shane’s time, not when his days off were going to be getting scarcer and scarcer with the coming rainy season.

_‘I’m going to make sure those pumpkins are the best pumpkins in the whole valley.’_ He thought to himself as he took the backroads path back to the farm, filled with renewed vigor and determination to outdo his rival. Even more than that, he was going to make sure that every kid in the valley would have a chance to come and pick one out if they wanted, and to do that, he would need to start making some flyers…


	16. September 15

Another Friday, another long trip into Zuzu City. It really wasn’t that bad if Shane was having a good day, or even a decent one, but the trip was hell if he was struggling. This was especially true for today; the whole night, his back had been repeatedly and painfully spasming, meaning sleep was pretty much out of the picture. When he mentioned it to his therapist, they suggested that it was possibly due to his depression, and said that if it continued or got any worse to call and they’d work on either upping the dosage on his medication or trying a different one to see if that helped.

But that didn’t really do anything for him now, and he was really dragging his feet along as he finally got back into town. _‘Ugh, I just want to go to bed.’_ He thought, rubbing his face with a yawn. Stepping onto the path that lead both to Ashe’s farm and towards town, he paused. _‘… I know I should at least drop by and say hey to him, but I don’t know if I’ve got it in me…’_

After some intense contemplation, he moved his hands to the small of his back and pressed against it as he arched backwards, trying to pop his spine in the hopes that it would ease the pain a little. As much as he didn’t feel up to it, and as much as he could hear his bed calling to him all the way from home, Ashe deserved at least a little bit of his time that day. It wouldn’t be fair to him otherwise, and there was a good chance that just being around that happy go lucky doofus would put Shane in a slightly better mood.

It was frustrating that such simple things as _visiting his cute as fuck boyfriend_ still took so much effort. Some days it felt like he was really getting his life together, and then he’d have a shitty day like this one and it felt like he was back to square one. At the very least, he hadn’t had another relapse; that had to account for something, surely.

“Brush, brush, brush the knots out~” Ashe sang cheerily, running a coarse-haired brush through the mane of his newest family member—a beautiful bay gelding he’d named Silva. “Who has the prettiest mane in the valley? You do~”

Silva snorted and stamped her front right hoof into the dirt with a flick of her tail. She was still a young mare, full of energy and plenty of attitude, and she hadn’t quite decided if she liked Ashe or not yet.

“C’mon, don’t you snort at me like that.” Ashe moved to brush her tail, and as if to test his reaction, Silva kicked one of her hind legs as he got near them. “Whoa—hey now, was that really necessary?” He looked to her face, and she innocently turned away with a flick of her head and a whinny. “I know getting your hair brushed isn’t fun, but you don’t want to get mats, do you? So just settle down and—”

He went to brush her again, very narrowly avoiding another kick from the fiesty mare. “Jeez! That one almost got me!” He fumed, puffing his cheeks out as planted his hands on his hips. “What’s gotten into you? Are you just in a bad mood today?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say I am.” Shane joked, making Ashe jump a little from the unexpected sound of his voice. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

“You scared me…” Ashe let out a breath as he turned to face the taller man, smiling happily despite his racing heart. “I’m happy you came to see me though~” After a moment, the smile began to fade. “Are you having a rough day?”

Shane sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Yeah… it’s just one of those days. My back was killing me last night so I didn’t get any sleep, and it hasn’t stopped hurting all day. In fact, it’s probably gotten worse…”

Slowly he reached out to Ashe, gently taking hold of his upper arms as he rested his forehead against the shorter teen’s shoulder. “Are things always gonna be this hard…?” He murmured, asking no one in particular, squeezing Ashe’s arms slightly in frustration. “…. Sorry… I’m just… so tired of having to try so hard just to function like a normal person. It’s exhausting.”

Seeing Shane like that, it was all Ashe could do to bring his hands up and slowly run his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair. “I’m sorry that today’s been so hard.” He said softly, wanting to offer at least some small comfort to him. “… Would a massage help at all?”

“Nah… I’ll be alright. I just needed to vent a little—” As Shane spoke, he attempted to straighten up, and a pain sharp enough to steal his breath away shot up his back; agonized, his hands unconsciously gripped Ashe’s arms tight enough to hurt, though just for a moment. “… Actually, I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Smiling sympathetically, Ashe slid his hands down Shane’s arms and took hold of his, gently pulling him towards the porch; he sat his boyfriend down on the steps and moved to sit behind him, ever so slightly nervous since he’d never really given a massage to anyone before, much less the person he was dating. Unsure of how much pressure he should use, but having seen just how much Shane’s back was bothering him, he went in rather forcefully, pushing his fingers into the muscles in Shane’s back. Instantly, Shane went rigid, letting out a sharp hiss of pain, and Ashe immediately pulled his hands back, eyes wide. “Ah—s-sorry! That… that hurt a lot, didn’t it?”

“I-It’s fine…” Shane hunched over and planted his hands on his knees for support, trying to get his breath back; after a few seconds, he looked over his shoulder to Ashe with a pained half-grin. “Maybe just a _little_ gentler this time, chikadee.”

_‘Ch… chikadee…?’_ Ashe felt his cheeks heat up at the nickname. “O-Okay.” He shifted closer and put his hands on Shane’s back again, this time using much less pressure as he worked his fingers in a circular sort of motion. The muscles in his back were so tense and rigid that the pressure still drew a hiss from Shane, and he paused again, his brows furrowing together; glancing back at him, Shane shook his head and gave him a feeble thumbs up to continue this time, turning back around and letting out a sigh as Ashe began to move his hands again. “D-Does it still hurt?”

“Only a bit.” Shane closed his eyes and let his head droop forward. “… Hey, chikadee? Can you go a little lower?” He asked, and of course Ashe was happy to do so. “…. Little lower…. Liiiittle lower…” He visibly jolted as Ashe’s fingers started kneading that ‘magic’ spot. It was the spot on his back that was easily the most tense, and Ashe could _feel_ the knot in the muscles. “Fffff… stay right there.”

For several minutes, Ashe steadily worked away at that one spot, slowly feeling it loosen beneath his fingertips; he kind of wondered if this actually felt good or not, but Shane had stopped making those little winces and hisses of pain, so at least it seemed like it didn’t hurt—at least not as much, anyway. “Is this helping at all?” He asked hesitantly. “….. Shane?”

“ZzzzZZzzz….” It had helped more than he’d realized; Shane was out like a light, finally at ease enough for his exhaustion to win him over.

“….” Ashe smiled and shifted closer, gently pulling the snoozing man back to rest against him and folding his arms around him. “You dork…” He murmured, pressing a shy kiss to his boyfriend’s forehead. “Sleep as long as you want….”

It was only ten or fifteen minutes before Shane came to with a quiet snort, forcing his eyes open with no small amount of difficulty to find himself gazing up at Ashe’s smiling face. “Ah, shit… sorry, I didn’t mean to doze off like that.” He apologized, embarrassed. “I… wasn’t out for too long, was I?”

“Mm, not really.” Ashe loosely wrapped his arms around Shane’s neck, his hands resting against the man’s chest. “Probably fifteen minutes or so. I guess the massage helped~”

“Yeah, it did.” Shane moved his hands to gently hold onto Ashe’s arms. He was always surprised by how stick-thin they were, even with all the strenuous farmwork that Ashe did day in and day out. But it still felt nice to be held by them like this, to feel the warmth of his boyfriend against him. “… Hey. C’mere for a sec.”

“Hm?” Curious, Ashe leaned down a bit; Shane reached his hand up to gently cup his face, shifting to sit up enough to press their lips together. It was only the second time they’d kissed like this, and Ashe could feel his heart skipping several beats in his chest as he closed his eyes and pressed into it. With the same ease as the first time, Shane’s tongue slipped into his mouth, gently rubbing against his and eliciting a faint shudder from the farmer. Back in Shane’s hey-day as a gridball player, he’d gotten around quite a few times, and even though it had been years and years since he’d last been with someone, he still remembered a few tricks he’d learned in those days.

He remembered also not to overdo it for the sake of romance, pulling back after just a few short seconds to gaze up at Ashe’s flushed face. “Thank you, Ashe.” He murmured, brushing his thumb against those pink-tinted cheeks. “Not just for the massage, but just… for everything.” In that moment, he was glad that he decided to suck it up and come say hello. “…. I really need to get going. Jas and Marnie are probably wondering where my ass is.”

“Oh!” As Shane reluctantly got to his feet, Ashe clapped his hands together excitedly. “I can give you a ride there if you want. Just let me get the cart hooked up to Silva and—”

Shane glanced over to the fiesty mare, who had wandered over to some of the bushes surrounding the farm and was contentedly munching away on one. “Chikadee, I dunno how I feel about you riding her just yet.” He admitted, a knot of anxiety forming in the pit of his stomach at the thought of Ashe getting bucked off. He’d had his reservations about Marnie selling her to him in the first place, since even _Marnie_ —who in her youth had won more than a few horseback riding competitions—had trouble dealing with her. “I appreciate the offer, but I think I can handle walking. You don’t mind me cutting through your farm though, right?”

“Ah, no that’s fine, but…” Ashe’s brows knitted together. “Are you sure?”

“Ashe,” Shane turned to face him with a serious expression on his face, “when I got here, that horse nearly kicked you. I’m not hurting that bad that I’d want to risk your safety like that.” He could tell that even despite what he was saying, Ashe simply didn’t get that Silva’s behavior was dangerous. “…. Promise me that you won’t try to ride her until she mellows out. Okay?”

That wasn’t something that Ashe was excited to hear; he’d gotten Silva so that he could ride her, after all. “…. Okay.” He conceded reluctantly, even though he really felt in his heart that Silva wouldn’t ever actually hurt him. “I promise.”

“Thank you.” Shane leaned close and pressed a kiss to the top of Ashe’s head. “I’ll see you tomorrow… Oh, before I forget. Make sure you don’t make any plans for the 21st next month.”

It was such an odd request out of nowhere. “Oh-kay…. Why though?”

“You’ll figure it out.” For some reason, Shane wasn’t even surprised that Ashe didn’t remember what the 21st was. “Okay, I’m going. For real this time.” He made his tired legs carry him towards home, before he could think of another reason to linger at Ashe’s side; as much as he enjoyed being there, he was _so_ tired…

It was a sign of the passing seasons that by the time he’d gotten back to the ranch, the sun was already halfway hidden below the horizon. During the summer when he’d come home from therapy, it had barely even started its descent, and there were still several hours of daylight left. But now it was already becoming dark out, which meant that soon his walks to and from the ranch, both to work and to therapy, were going to start to suck. Especially if it was raining… He groaned just _thinking_ about it.

“I’m home…” He called as he let himself in. The plan was to spend a good… five minutes or so with Jas, or however long he could manage, then go and sit in the shower for however long the hot water lasted, and then go to bed and fucking _pray_ that he could actually get some sleep that night.

He heard the rapid pitter-patter of Jas’ shoes against the floor as the girl raced from her bedroom. “Shaaaaane!” She cried out happily, jumping up and tightly hugging him with no knowledge of his sore back. “I missed you!”

“Oof—” Using every ounce of willpower he had to repress the yelp of pain that rose up in his throat, Shane caught his goddaughter so she didn’t fall. “Hey there, squirt. I missed you too.” Honestly, he should have expected that kind of greeting, since it was how she’d reacted to him coming home for the last week or so. He didn’t know why, but he wasn’t going to complain.

“Guess what, guess what!” Jas bounced up and down in his arms, barely able to contain her excitement. She didn’t even give him a chance to answer before she proudly told him ‘what’. “My report card came today, and I got straight A’s again!”

“Wha—no way.” Shane pretended to be staggered by the announcement. “Again? I guess that means I owe you 50g, huh?” He set the girl on her feet and made a big show of pulling out his wallet to pull out her ‘good grade allowance’, his fatigue and discomfort eased a little by the pride he felt at her repeated accomplishments, and the fact that he actually could save up now to give it to her. “That was the real reason you were excited that I’m home, isn’t it?”

“Nooooo!” Jas giggled and held out her hand expectantly as Shane plonked five shiny gold coins onto it. “I was excited because I love you~”

Shane paused as she gave him that heart-melting smile of hers; after several seconds, he pulled out two more and added them to the others. “I love you too, squirt.” He answered with a smile as she hugged him again. He kind of both loved and hated that she knew how to play him like that. His back throbbed painfully a moment later, reminding him that as much as he wanted to spend the evening with her, it just wasn’t something he was up to doing that night. “Hey, Jas? I know we always have our special time together when I come home, but… do you remember what I told you, about me sometimes needing to be alone for a little while?”

Hearing that, Jas was immediately distracted from the shiny coins in her hand. “Are you having a bad day?” She asked, looking up to her godfather with worry written on her face. 

“Kind of.” Shane put his hand on top of her head. “I think tonight, I just need to be by myself. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow, though. Okay?”

He expected to see her little face fall with disappointment at those words, but to his surprise, Jas just nodded her head in understanding. “Okay~” She agreed with a smile. “I hope you feel better.” She gave him another hug and headed back to her room to play with her dolls. “Night night~”

“Uh…. Night, kiddo.” Shane watched her go off, slowly rubbing the back of his neck. Jas had taken that way better than he’d expected her to. _‘Yoba, she’s growing up so fast.’_ He thought, letting out a slow breath as he stiffly made his way to his room. _‘I’m just glad that I’m not missing any of it now…’_


	17. September 21

Shane never could properly articulate how much he disliked working at Joja-Mart. Every shift was the same, stocking the same shelves, listening to the same canned shopping music playing over the intercom system, watching that greedy little pig Morris gleefully counting the profits the store was making right at the supervisor’s stand where the customers could see. All the while there was this… oppressive, stifling atmosphere all throughout the store, the kind of atmosphere that just sucked the joy and energy from you the longer you stayed in it.

As he hauled a cart filled with frozen goods from the back room to the freezers, he heard the sound of the automatic doors sliding open up at the front, and could vaguely make out Morris greeting the customer that came through them. He didn’t really care; more than likely it was either Jodi or Pam, and neither of them ever touched the stuff that was in the freezers. Instead, he focused on getting the task over and done with so he could finally go on lunch break, trying to decide whether he wanted to get a box of pizza rolls or a box of pepper poppers to eat…

The sensation of a pair of slender arms wrapping around him from behind broke him from his musings. “Boo.” Ashe greeted with a grin, thinking he’d gotten the drop on his boyfriend like that. “Did I scare you?”

“No.” Shane looked back over his shoulder at him. “I saw your reflection in the freezer door, dork. What are you doing here? Not that I’m not happy to see your dumb face, but I don’t think you’re actually here to _buy_ this crap.”

“Heehee~” Smiling playfully now, Ashe stepped back and dug around inside his rucksack. “I mostly just wanted to say hi, but also….” He produced a red-lidded container and held it out to Shane. “I found a bunch of mushrooms this morning, and you seemed to like the stuffed tomatoes I made for the Luau, so… I made you lunch~”

Shane stared at the container in surprise, as the faint smell of something delicious radiated from it. “Aww, bugaboo, you didn’t have to do that.” He tried not to let it show how much the smell was making him salivate, realizing just how _hungry_ he was. That was one side effect he hadn’t expected from his sobriety; he felt like he was always starving, and he was less than happy with the ten pounds he’d put on since seeing his therapist…

“Ahem.”

And of course, there was Morris to ruin everything good about Shane’s day. “I’ll thank you not to bother my employees while they’re working.” He warned Ashe, whose face had fallen to a pout at the manager’s intrusion. “Unless you’d like to start paying his wages yourself.”

In response, Shane cleared his throat as well and pointed to the clock hanging up over the freezers, giving Morris a deadpan look as he did so; Morris’ eyes followed Shane’s finger to see the time for himself. “….. Oh, very well.” The manager begrudgingly conceded. “Thirty minutes, and not a second more. Go clock out.”

“Gee, how generous.” Shane rolled his eyes. “I’ll be right back, Ashe.”

“Okay~” Ashe waved a little as Shane disappeared into the employee only area in the back; as his hand returned to the container he was holding, he could _feel_ Morris’ beady little eyes practically burning a hole in him. “… I’m sorry for bothering Shane while he was on the clock.” He finally said as he turned to face him, wanting to do something to make the staring stop. “It wasn’t his fault, so please don’t hold it against him…”

Morris continued to give him a hard look. “… Well, I suppose I could overlook it.” He finally said, settling back into his skin as an idea hit him. “ _If_ you were to buy a Joja membership for the low low price of 5,000g, that is.”

It was an especially dirty tactic, he knew. He’d already gotten Lewis to agree to sell him the rights to develop the land that the old community center was built on if he sold a certain amount of those memberships to the townsfolk, and it just so happened he was one away from meeting that quota. If he could sell it to the farmer that was intent on running them out of town with their bet, it would be all the more sweeter. He was sure the lawyers back at corporate could find a way to argue that it constituted a renewal of the terms of the bet and render the previous terms null and void, a notion that sent his greedy little heart all aflutter with excitement.

Ashe visibly stiffened at the obvious attempt at blackmail. “… What would happen if I didn’t?” He asked, trying not to let it show just how bothered he was by the situation he’d gotten them into.

“Well, I would probably write him up for slacking on the clock.” Morris’ eyes gleamed. “I’ll admit, he has a clean record, but it would be terribly unfortunate if somewhere down the line he were to lose his job because of this infraction.” He could tell that he had Ashe in the palm of his hand at that point and decided to be ‘merciful’. “I’m not an unreasonable man, however, so why don’t we do this? I’ll leave the offer on the table. If at any point you decide you’d like to purchase a membership, I’ll be quite happy to wipe Shane’s disciplinary record clean. That seems reasonable, don’t you agree?”

Of course it wasn’t reasonable, it was downright extortion; there was a reason that Morris had gotten to such a cushy position, after all, and it certainly wasn’t because of hard and honest work. He could practically see Ashe’s mind working, trying to wrestle with what the right decision was. Before the farmer had a chance to actually say anything, the door to the back swung open, and Shane re-emerged from it. “Do give it some thought, and let me know if you come to a decision.”

As Shane stepped out from the back room, he saw that Morris was still talking to Ashe, wearing the shark-like predatory grin that he often wore when he was closing a deal, making a frown split across Shane’s own face as he walked towards them. He just barely caught the tail-end of what Morris was saying as he approached—something about a decision—and with that, Morris skittered away like the cockroach he was back towards the front.

“…. Sorry for keeping you waiting, chikadee.” Shane said, eying Morris’ back as it disappeared behind the rows of shelves. “What was he saying to you?”

Ashe’s back had been to Shane up to that point, and he turned around as Shane came up to him, all smiles like usual. “Oh, nothing important~” He chimed, pushing the whole conversation with Morris to the back of his mind.

By that point, they’d known each other long enough that Shane was able to see through those little fibs that Ashe would tell when something was bothering him. It was apparent that Morris had said _something_ scummy to him, but rather than trying to question him further inside the store, Shane just nodded along with Ashe’s deflection. “Alright.” He agreed, wrapping his arm around Ashe’s waist. “Do you wanna have lunch with me? We can sit in that picnic area near Clint’s place.”

“Ah, sure!” The suggestion made Ashe’s eyes sparkle with delight, making him glad that he’d gone a little overboard with how much of the stuffed mushrooms he’d made… okay, so _maybe_ he had made extra in the hopes that he could get to share with Shane.

It was one of those lovely Indian summer days, where the air was a bit warm and there was a light breeze carrying it. The foliage all around was an array of beautiful oranges and reds and yellows, and the town was once again filled with life as its inhabitants bustled to and fro, no longer restricted to their homes by oppressive heat. Fall was arguably the busiest season in the whole valley, and that was especially true in Pelican Town.

On the way out of the store, the pair passed by the ever-meek Ellie who was on her way in. “Hi Ellie~” Ashe greeted cheerily, raising his hand in hello to the girl. The sight of him with Shane made Ellie clam up, and she mumbled a ‘hello’ back before dashing into the store.

“You know her?” Shane asked curiously, taking hold of Ashe’s hand and lacing their fingers together as they walked towards the public dining area just north of Clint’s workshop.

“Mmhm. She’s usually the one that’s manning the rescue team in the mines.” Ashe made a mental note to find time to head to the mines soon, since it had been awhile since his last excursion into them. “She’s really nice.”

“Yeah, she seems alright.” Shane agreed. “She comes in a lot. I’ve had to grab stuff on the higher shelves for her since she can’t reach ‘em.” Ellie was probably one of the few Joja people he could tolerate, since she was always polite and said thank you for any help she got.

They covered the short distance between the mart and the picnic table area in just under a minute or so, taking the nearest table to them since it really didn’t matter where they sat. It was a nice enough area, and with the weather as gorgeous as it was, more people from town should have been using it. But they had the whole area to themselves.

“So how’s your day been going, bugaboo?” Shane asked, as Ashe opened the container of mushrooms and set it between them. It was a little too easy for him to get wrapped up in his own problems and forget that sometimes Ashe had problems, too.

“It’s been going pretty good.” Digging two wrapped forks from his rucksack, Ashe offered one to Shane with a smile so they could start eating. “Hanako made me laugh so hard I was rolling on the ground earlier. Blue decided that her tail was a giant cat toy and was playing with it, and she just turned around and looked at him like, ‘can you not right now? I’m trying to eat.’ Speaking of eating, she’s started grazing in the pastures and oh my Yoba, she just _doesn’t stop eating._ Same with the hens! What is it about fall that makes everyone’s apetites go crazy? You know what I’m talking about, right?”

“Right.” Shane chuckled, taking a bite of the mushrooms as he listened to Ashe chatter away. As expected, the stuffing was delicious, and the mushrooms were nicely roasted, bringing out their rich and earthy flavor. It sure as hell beat whatever he was going to buy for lunch.

Ashe nodded vigorously, glad that someone understood what he meant. “There’s just something about this season that makes everything taste really good. The hens are giving me some really rich and delicious eggs these days~ I’m absolutely going to win the grange competition at the Fair thanks to them. Well, I guess I should say thanks to you too, since you taught me how to take care of them so well. Is it weird that I think it’s kind of harder to care for crops than animals, by the way? I know I really shouldn’t be saying this cos I chose to plant so much, but it takes so much more out of me to water and fertilize the fields than it does to take care of the animals—” He stopped short, seeing the amused expression on Shane’s face at him chattering away. “Oh, uh… I’m rambling aren’t I?”

“Just a little.” The older man agreed, grinning a little at the sheepish expression on his boyfriend’s face. “I don’t mind though. It’s cute when you get excited like that. I can tell how much you love doing what you do.” He took another bite of the mushrooms and sighed. “Wish I could say the same thing about my job… Well, at least one of us is happy.”

Ashe’s brows knitted together. “If you don’t mind me asking…” He began, speaking slowly so he could choose his words carefully, “…how come you don’t quit and work for Marnie?”

“If I could, I’d do it in a heartbeat chikadee.” Shane sighed again, shooting a scornful glance towards the Joja-mart. “But Marnie just doesn’t make enough money for that to be an option. And you know how it is here in town, there’s not any other job openings available that I could take. So I’m pretty much stuck… It could be worse, though. At least I have a job.”

Morris’ thinly veiled threat towards Shane echoed in Ashe’s head, making a small, cold stone settle in the pit of his stomach. “Yeah… that’s definitely something.” He agreed, finally helping himself to the stuffed mushrooms as he wondered what the right decision was in that situation. Even though Shane clearly hated the job, he didn’t want it taken away from him…

Shane raised a brow at the sudden shift in Ashe’s demeanor. “… Okay, what kind of bullshit did Morris tell you?” He asked. “Oh, don’t give me that look.” He added when Ashe gave him a look of surprise. “It’s obvious that he said something that’s bothering you, so spill it.”

“Ah….” Silently, Ashe cursed himself for being so easy to read. “He… well, he said that he’d write you up for slacking if I didn’t buy a Joja membership.”

“That so?” With a snort, Shane rather aggressively stabbed his fork into a mushroom, imagining that it had Morris’ smug prick face as he did so. “He’s so full of shit sometimes—actually, make that all the time. Don’t let it bother you, chikadee. He wouldn’t actually can me, just because he knows how much I _hate_ working for him.” With just as much pent up aggression, he chomped down on the stabbed mushroom, taking his time to thoroughly chew it before he spoke again. “… Sorry, I shouldn’t be bitching so much. These mushrooms are really good. Another of your mom’s recipes?”

“Oh, kind of.” Ashe nodded his head. “I just sort of tweaked the stuffed tomatoes recipe. I’m glad you like it~” He too took another bite, chewing it slowly with a thoughtful look on his face. “… I was thinking… it might be fun to try and make lunch for you sometimes.”

Pausing with his fork still in his mouth, Shane looked to his boyfriend in surprise as his heart skipped a beat. “Bugaboo, you don’t need to do that.” He insisted. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the thought. But you’ve got _way_ too much on your plate as it is.”

“B-But I _want_ to!” Ashe puffed his cheeks out in a pout. “I just thought that if you had something tasty to look forward to when you’re at work, it might help make your day a little bit better. I read online that good food can help your mood, too, so….”

“…. Ashe.” Shane set his fork down and wrapped his arm loosely around Ashe’s shoulders. “I know you want to help me, and it means a lot to me that you do. But—and don’t take this the wrong way, seriously–I need you to remember that you can’t ‘fix’ me.” He murmured, bringing their faces close together so that he could quietly speak to him. “That kind of stuff is something that I need to worry about, not you.”

As he spoke, he gently rubbed Ashe’s upper arm to reassure him that he wasn’t upset with him, or anything like that. Ashe quietly listened to what he was saying, looking down to the surface of the table with his brows furrowed together. “But… I don’t want you to have to go through all of this by yourself.”

“Who says that I am?” Shane gave his shoulders a squeeze. “I’ve got you, don’t I? And I have Jas, and Marnie too. If I didn’t have you three to lean on, I wouldn’t be able to get through the day. What I need from you, above everything else, is just for you to keep supporting me like you have from day one. Okay?”

“….Okay.” Ashe nodded his head in understanding and leaned slightly against Shane. He felt like just being there wasn’t enough, but he had to trust in what Shane was saying—after all, he was the only one who had the right to decide what he needed. It wasn’t Ashe’s place to fix him.

“Thank you, sunshine.” Since he knew all too well how stubborn Ashe was when he got an idea in his head, Shane really appreciated not having to fight with him about the issue. He pressed a kiss to his boyfriend’s temple and gave him another brief squeeze. “And I’m not trying to say that you can’t ever do things for me. Just don’t do them because you think it’ll help me in some way. Do them because you want to do them.”

Ashe just nodded again with a small smile. He felt like he should have known that from the get-go or something, even though he knew it was kind of ridiculous to feel that way. But that was his own hang up that he needed to deal with on his own, similar to what Shane had said himself. “So how are things going at the ranch? I bet Marnie’s been busy getting ready for the Fair.”

“Oh yeah, she’s been busting her ass since the first.” Shane helped himself to more of the mushrooms, finding it difficult to stop now that he’d started again. “She’s been working on making the perfect giant cheese wheel—I think that’s gonna be her big ticket item for the display. And Jas has been a big help with the preparations, too. She’s been getting up extra early to take care of the hens, and she spends hours brushing the sheep to make sure they’re looking good for the petting zoo.”

Ashe gasped so loudly and suddenly that Shane nearly dropped his fork in alarm. “Petting zoo?!” He squealed, clasping his hands together in delight as his eyes sparkled. “There’s gonna be a petting zoo?!” 

“Yeah? What, you didn’t know that?” Shane snickered a little at his childlike reaction. “If you ask me, the petting zoo is a bigger attraction than the grange displays. We get a ton of tourists who come by just so their kids can play with the animals. To be honest, the Fair is when Marnie ends up making most of her new customers.”

“Really?” A thoughtful look come onto Ashe’s face. “So…. If she were to make a lot of new customers this year, then—”

Shane held up his hand to stop Ashe before he could finish his sentence. “I know what you’re about to say, and the answer is ‘it’s not your problem to worry about’.” His voice was firm, leaving no room for Ashe to argue. “Again, please don’t take this the wrong way, but that’s _our_ business to deal with.”

He felt like the world’s biggest asshole right now, telling Ashe basically to mind his own business, but he knew that being blunt and honest was the only way to get through to him sometimes. He wanted Ashe to worry about his own problems and his own farm, not go around trying to make everything perfect and lovely for the rest of the town like he _knew_ the farmer would if he was given the chance to.

“Ah….” There was a visible drop in Ashe’s face at Shane’s words. _‘… Their business… right…’_ He thought, hunching his shoulders as he looked down to his lap. _‘It’s not my place to interfere… I’m not actually family….’_ “R-Right… sorry…”

“…. Hey.” Shane pulled him close again, seeing how upset he’d made his boyfriend. “Look at me. Look at me, Ashe.”

After several seconds, Ashe slowly turned his head to look at Shane; despite his best efforts, there was a faint layer of tears glistening in his eyes. “I’m not upset with you or anything.” Shane insisted, rubbing Ashe’s arm again to comfort him. “I’m really not. And I’m not trying to say that you being nosy is a bad thing. If you weren’t so nosy then I might not even _be_ here right now. But I know how you are about this stuff, and like I said before, you’ve got _way_ too much on your plate to be worrying about us when there isn’t a reason to be worried. Alright?” He pressed their foreheads together and smiled a little, though it faded when Ashe didn’t smile back right away. “… It’s okay if you’re upset with me for what I’ve said.”

Hearing that, Ashe vigorously shook his head. “It’s not that.” He insisted, quickly drying his moist eyes on the backs of his hands. “I’ve just… never been very good at taking criticisms like that. A-And I know that you’re not even criticising me, you’re just trying to look out for me.” He finally managed to smile back. “Thanks for always being honest with me…”

“I just worry about you taking on too much to handle.” Shane kissed his temple again, using his thumb to gently brush away the moisture that Ashe had missed around his eyes. “I know you’re young and you’ve got more energy than I do, but you need to make sure you’re not pushing yourself too hard.”

“I promise I’m not.” Ashe sniffled just a little as he smiled once more. “So you don’t have to worry about me~” 

Shane gave him another gentle squeeze. He hadn’t meant to make Ashe cry, and he really did feel bad about that. Maybe there could have been a better way to go about it, but in the end, it seemed like the message had gotten across. “Telling me not to worry is like me telling you not to worry, chikadee.” He teased. “It’s just not gonna happen.”

His wristwatch beeped, letting him know that he only had 5 minutes left of his lunch break. “Buh… I gotta get back to work in a couple minutes.” He groaned, hastily shoving a few more bites of mushrooms into his mouth.

“Oh, why don’t you just keep the leftovers?” Ashe suggested. “I kind of went overboard with how much I made, after all.”

“You sure?” Shane gave it some thought. “I dunno how well this’ll keep in my locker though. And the fridge in the break room hasn’t worked in years… Yeah, sorry chikadee. Thanks though, being able to have a real lunch with you did make my day better.”

Wanting to make sure that Ashe knew all was well, he pulled the farmer into a proper and tight hug, taking a few extra moments to nuzzle his cheek affectionately; the gesture made Ashe giggle, and he returned the hug for a second before they parted. “Have a good rest of your shift~ Um, is it alright if I call you tonight?”

“Of course you can, bud.” It was a request that puzzled Shane just a little, but he didn’t have a problem with it. “And I’ll try to. No guarantees, though.” He watched as Ashe headed off to do his own thing again, not realizing the sappy, goofy sort of grin that was on his face the whole time. After that head of dark hair disappeared from sight, he got up from the table, feeling the way his belly jiggled with the motion. _‘Yoba, I’m disgusting.’_ He thought with a sigh, pinching the fat sticking out over the waistband of his pants. Maybe it was time for him to take his therapist’s advice about exercise…


	18. October 3

The sound of a gong rang out over the din of the Fair, as Alex smashed the strength tester yet again; with a grin, he held out his hand to the game operator, who forked over his winnings for ringing the bell. To his dismay, Haley—who he thought had been watching—had long since lost interest and was currently over at the fishing tent with Pam. His disappointment was all but forgotten as Gus walked by, carrying a platter of burger patties waiting to be cooked up for, of course, the all you can eat buffet. 

Yes, it was that most wonderful time of year again: the Stardew Valley Fair. Countless visitors from far and wide traveled to Pelican Town, which seemingly overnight had transformed into a grand county fairgrounds. Game booths were set up throughout the town center, offering star tokens as prizes for winning, while a little kiddie coaster had been put up smack dab in the center. Up to the north was the buffet, where Gus was now grilling away not just burgers, but hot dogs, barbeque chicken and ribs as well, filling the air with a mouthwatering smell.

“Thank you, Mr. Gus~” Jas was all smiles as she accepted the bag of fresh spun cotton candy from Gus, wasting no time in tearing a piece off and popping it into her mouth. “Thank you Shane~” She added, as her godfather slipped Gus a fiver for giving Jas some extra.

“You’re welcome, squirt.” Shane ruffled her hair with a grin; he had been worried that the lure of the alcohol on offer would be too much for him to ignore, but it wasn’t so hard since he was focusing on Jas. “So, what do you think? Is this year’s fair better than last year’s?”

“Hmm…” Jas gave the question serious contemplation, tearing off another chunk of spun sugar while she mulled it over in her head. “… Yeah, it’s better.” She answered with a sage nod of her head. “I wish that there were other rides besides that dumb kiddie coaster, though.”

“Whaaaat? You love that coaster, though.”

“Not anymore. It’s for little kids, and I’m not a little kid anymore.” Jas paused, still looking thoughtful as she ate another clump of cotton candy. “… Vincent still likes it though. He’s too scared to ride by himself, so I guess I’d be okay with riding it to make him happy.”

Trying not to laugh at how obvious it was that she still enjoyed the ride, Shane ruffled her hair with a grin. “That’s pretty big of you. Might as well enjoy it while you can still fit in the cars.” He checked his wristwatch and saw that it was already nearing noon. “Well kiddo, I better go and switch places with Marnie so she can work on her grange display. You got enough pocket change to get what you wanna get?” 

Jas held up the small purple purse hanging at her side with an affirmative nod of her head. She had been saving and saving all year just for this fair, so she was quite set for the day. Still, that didn’t stop Shane from digging into his wallet and handing her another fiver for good measure.

“You remember the rules, right?” He asked, kneeling down to her level with no small amount of effort. Pelican Town was safe pretty much every day of the year, but the influx of visitors meant that the Fair was perhaps the most dangerous—everyone could still remember the disaster that was known as the ‘Jockstrap Incident’, loathe though they were to recall it.

“ _Yes,_ I remember.” There was more than a slight hint of exasperation in Jas’ voice. If there was one thing in the world she didn’t care for, it was being treated like a little kid. “Hurry up and go help Aunt Marnie alreadyyyy.”

She moved behind her godfather and gave him a good push towards the petting zoo to really get her point across, drawing a half-laugh from Shane as he followed the momentum granted to him. For some reason, he got the impression that Jas didn’t want to be babysat very much. _‘Damn, do kids grow up fast these days.’_ He thought with a grin, winding his way through the somewhat oblivious crowds to relieve Marnie of her duties at the petting zoo.

With hands that trembled from the sheer amount of nervous energy flowing through them, Ashe painstakingly placed his selections for his grange display into the bin, silently fretting to himself as to their layout and orientation; to his right, Marnie too was hard at work making her ranch display look its best, with a massive and admittedly impressive cheese wheel as the centerpiece. To her right was Willy, who was piling high the freshest of fresh fish caught at dawn that morning, and to Ashe’s left was Percy, surrounded by an air of confidence while his own was put together. There were other grange displays, too, being set up by various visitors from throughout the valley—all of whom had similarly intimidating offerings.

Up until last night, Ashe had nothing but the utmost confidence in himself; he had been toiling endlessly ever since he’d learned about the competition, secure in his belief that he was going to win. Yet now that he was surrounded by his competition, beholding their entries with his own eyes, that confidence was evaporating faster than ice beneath the blistering summer sun. Compared to Marnie’s animal product focused display, and to Percy’s all encompassing one featuring the very best finds from the mines alongside pristine farm and ranch products, Ashe’s crops, eggs, milk and gems looked like amateur hour.

_‘Maybe I tried to do too much…’_ He found himself thinking, anxiously fussing with the arrangement in the faint hopes that somehow changing the layout would make it seem more impressive. Would he have done better if he’d narrowed his focus to just one or two areas?

He was so caught up in fretting over his chances that he didn’t notice Marnie had finished preparing her display and was now taking a good gander at his. For a first timer, she thought he had done a fantastic job. “Looking pretty good there, kiddo.” She spoke up, making him nearly jump out of his skin from fright. “Nerves getting to you?”

“M-Maybe just a little.” Pressing his hand against his chest, Ashe took a deep breath to calm himself; hearing her voice helped to bring him back down to Earth for the moment. “Thank you. But I’m pretty sure that cheese wheel of yours is going to win.”

They both took a moment to gaze upon the magnificent artisanal creation taking up most of Marnie’s display, and Marnie couldn’t help but grin at the sight of it. “I’m pretty proud of it, if I do say so myself. Those eggs you brought are sure gonna give me and everyone else a run for our money, though.” She gave the young farmer a reassuring smile. Though it had been close to ten years since her first entry into the fair, she could still recall that almost strangling fear that she had felt, and she felt more than a little pity for the kid. A little confidence boost went a long way in situations like that.

Truth be told, he didn’t really believe what she said, but he didn’t want to let it show just how much he was doubting himself at this point. So he pushed a smile onto his face. “Haha, you really think so? If anything, it’s thanks to you and Shane. Honestly…” The smile began to slip away; perhaps because of his anxiety, perhaps it was something else, but… it felt like there was an icy cold tendril winding its way around his heart. “I owe a lot to you guys. All of you. I want to be able to say that I could have made it this far on my own. But that’d be a lie.”

Turning away from Marnie, whose expression had fallen a little at the oddly somber, melancholic words coming from him, he looked to the display that seemed so paltry to him now. Even still, he relied so much on others—to farm, to learn, to just exist. How long… how long would he have to depend on them? When would he be strong enough to stand on his own two feet? “…. I really do owe everything to you, and Shane, and Jas.” He murmured, turning to look at Marnie with another smile. “Thank you for putting up with me for all this time~”

“Kiddo…” Marnie didn’t like the feeling that she got as she listened to him speak. It reminded her far, _far_ too much of the way Shane used to be, the same sort of language, the same undertones of loathing, anxiety, doubt, hopelessness. “C’mon now, you should know by now that there’s nothing to put up with. You’ve been an angel of a neighbor to us. Heck, you’ve been a literal angel for Shane.” She wrapped her arm around Ashe’s shoulders and gave him a friendly squeeze. “Besides, you’re what? 19 years old? You can’t just expect yourself to have everything figured out right out of the gate.”

The sensation of being drawn close brought a measure of comfort to Ashe. Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to stop and breathe; the scent of lavender and lilac filled his nostrils, and suddenly he found himself in a clinical white room, heard the beeping of machines, felt his mother’s cold hand in his own as the scent of her perfume overwhelmed him. It was only for the briefest of moments, with the sound of the gong going off as Alex smashed the strength tester again pulling him back into the present. But that moment, to him, felt like an eternity…

“Ashe?” Marnie snapped her fingers in front of his face, more than a little concerned with the way the color had drained from his face; she practically felt him come back to reality, his entire body giving a shudder. “Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Seeing how concerned she was, Ashe really tried to pull himself together. “I…. Y-Yeah, I’m alright.” He assured with the best, most sincere smile he could muster. He didn’t want to worry her. “Honestly.”

“You sure don’t look alright.” Wholly unconvinced, Marnie gave his shoulders another squeeze. “… Why don’t you go and talk a walk, get away from the crowds for a bit? The competition’s not gonna start for awhile yet.”

“That’s….” Ashe’s voice trailed off; after a few moments’ contemplation, he nodded. “You know what, I think I will actually.” He glanced longingly over to the petting zoo; what he really wanted to do was go over there and play with the cute animals on display, but there were _so many_ people and children crowded around it that there was just no way it was going to happen. Especially not when he was a mess like this.

Marnie smiled and patted him on the shoulder as he headed off down towards the beach. It had been half a year since Ashe moved to the valley, and she had never seen him like that before. As much as she wanted him to open up to her and be able to let out whatever it was he was bottling up, she knew it wouldn’t happen. The only person that he would do that with was Shane. Deciding that this was more important than her display, she squeezed her way in and around the oblivious tourists piling into the town square, gradually making her way to the petting zoo while marveling at how rude people were these days.

“Hey hey—HEY! The animals have to stay _in_ the pen!” Shane’s voice cut sharply over the din of the crowds as he pried a poor little lamb from the hands of a kid who thought they were free to take. “This isn’t an adoption pen.” Yoba, he didn’t know if this was better or worse than his time working Black Friday back when he was a floor associate at Macy’s in college… At least there wasn’t a Karen demanding to see his manager for daring to tell her little darling to keep his hands off the merchandise.

…Maybe things weren’t so bad, though. Aside from the kid with the sticky fingers, most of the folks were just enjoying the petting zoo, lavishing affections on the baby farm animals. Shane was never fond of children, if he was honest. He didn’t know how to handle them, and deep down there was a part of him that was afraid of somehow breaking them. It was only when Jas came along that he finally _got_ why people had children—to marvel in their achievements, to laugh at the silly things they said, to watch as they learned about the world around them and grew up… So, yeah, maybe he didn’t completely hate kids like he used to anymore. Still wasn’t super keen on them, though.

A finger lightly tapped him on the shoulder, making him realize he’d been completely lost in his thoughts for the past few minutes; turning around, he relaxed a little when he saw Marnie standing behind him. “That didn’t take long. Got the display set up how you want it?”

“Yes, the display’s all set to go.” There was something in Marnie’s tone that worried him. “Ashe could really use your company right now, I think.”

“Did something happen?”

“I have no idea. To be honest….” She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them to look back up at her nephew. “Well, to be honest I think you should get your butt down to the beach and talk to him.”

“Yeah, yeah I’m going.” Shane stepped around her briskly, practically pushing his way through the crowds in his haste towards the south. He had no idea what was going on, but that wasn’t going to stop him from finding out.

The roar and din of the fair quieted to a low hum, nearly drowned out by the ocean waves as they gently lapped against the shore and the cries of the seagulls who soared overhead. It was calm, and peaceful; despite the cold air blowing in off of the ocean, Ashe stood silently at the water’s edge, gazing out at the endless blue. Lost in a world of his own.

He didn’t hear the sound of footsteps behind him. It was only when Shane came to stand beside him that he came back down to earth. “Shane…?” He asked, his voice soft enough to nearly be drowned out by the waves.

“I’m right here, bud.” Shane tucked his hands into his pockets as he briefly glanced to him. “What’s on your mind?”

For a long minute, Ashe didn’t say a word. “I don’t know.” He simply admitted. “I just… I don’t _know_. When I was setting up my display, and I saw what everyone else had brought, I…. guess I realized that I’m not some wonder farmer who’s gonna sweep the competition. I talked so much bullshit to Percy about beating him, but everything he put out there looks better than anything I could hope to produce. And not just him. The stuff that Marnie had from your guys’ ranch looked so high quality. _Everything_ on display from everyone looked wonderful.”

There was a long pause. “… What have I been doing all this time?” He whispered. “If I can’t win a stupid competition, what hope do I have to save Grandpa’s farm?”

“Bugaboo.” Shane reached out and took hold of his hand. “It’s just a fair competition. This isn’t some be all end all judgement of your farming skills.”

He knew what Ashe was feeling. Back before they met, that was how he used to drive himself into the ground with anxiety—the constant questioning of his worth, wondering why he was even trying, comparing himself to everyone else around him. He _got_ that feeling. “You’re still a kid. Sure, you don’t act like it most of the time—hell, sometimes I forget that you can’t even rent a car yet—but you’re still young. Everyone overestimates themselves when they’re young. That’s just a part of growing up. You fall, you pick yourself back up, and you move on. Well, you’re supposed to anyway. You and I both know it’s not so easy… you get what I’m trying to say though, right?”

“… Not really.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what I’m trying to say either.” Shane sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. “… Whatever the outcome of the fair is, there’s always next year. And I _know_ for a fact that next year you’ll crush the competition no matter what.” He looked to Ashe and gave his hand a squeeze. “And besides, they haven’t even judged the displays yet. You’ve still got a shot.”

Ashe managed to smile. “Shane, you haven’t even seen my display. I really don’t think I’m going to win.” He took a breath and looked back out to the ocean stretched out before them. “… But you’re right. It’s just a competition. I went and talked myself into a panic over something that doesn’t even matter again. But at least I know how much farther I have to go to save the farm.”

“Uh huh.” Shane shifted closer and loosely wrapped his arm around Ashe’s waist. “And what about how far you’ve come? I ain’t gonna let you just overlook all that work you’ve put in so far. You have every right to be damn proud of that farm.”

“Hehe… it does look pretty good these days, doesn’t it?”

“Better than what I could do.” Shane gave him a gentle squeeze. “You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah… Can we stay here for a little longer? I don’t feel like dealing with the crowds right now.”

He didn’t need to ask. Shane didn’t mind staying at the beach for the time being. They couldn’t stay for much longer, though; the bite of the chilly wind soon drove them back towards the town center, back towards the throngs of people and the noise they brought with them. The crowds had migrated towards the buffet area by then, drawn in by a pie eating competition with a nice fat 5k G first place prize. Thanks to that, the petting zoo was far less crowded; Ashe was able to finally get all those anxieties out by petting the baby animals like he’d wanted to.

Before long, Lewis announced over megaphone that the grange competition judgements had been made, asking all the contestants to return to their displays so the awards could be handed out. The butterflies made a comeback in Ashe’s stomach at the announcement, but they weren’t as bad this time around.

It came as both a surprise and a letdown when Lewis called his name for third place. There was still a part of him that had been hoping for first place, even though he knew it wasn’t going to happen. And there was a part of him that didn’t think he’d even place at all, so he couldn’t help the tiny bit of pride as Lewis handed him the third place ribbon and congratulated him.

Second place rightfully belonged to Marnie and her awe-inspiring cheese wheel, and she graciously accepted the silver ribbon placed into her hands by the mayor. And no surprise to anyone present, the gold first place ribbon was awarded to Percy, who had never doubted that he come out victorious in the end.

“Well, at least he’s not rubbing it in your face.” Sebastian commented, having made his way over to Ashe with Sam and Abigail as the competition wound down and the displays were being packed up. “Easy to be gracious when you’re the winner, though.”

“Hey, third place is still pretty good though!” Abigail elbowed Ashe with a reassuring grin.

“Yeah, especially considering how long you’ve been doing this whole farming thing.” Sam draped his arm around Ashe’s shoulders and gave him a grin of his own. All three of them had seen their friend disappear onto the beach earlier; they could tell that he was stressing out and wanted to support him the best they could.

To their surprise, Ashe nodded with a smile, turning the bronze ribbon over and over in his hands. “Yup. Percy earned the win, and Marnie deserved second place, so I’m happy with third.” Seeing the way they were all trying to lift his spirits up, he realized how much he must have worried the people that cared about him. He didn’t like knowing that he’d done that to them, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel just a little bit happy that they cared so much. “Congratulations on second, Marnie!” He called, as Marnie pulled the cart carrying her entered goods off.

“Hey, how much for that cheese wheel?!” Sam inquired enthusiastically; he loved cheese more than was healthy, and there was something novel about the thought of owning a cheese wheel that weighed more than his kid brother.

Marnie laughed and stopped to look at the teens. “Not for sale, kiddo!” She rebuked with a grin of her own. “She’s going into the cellar to age for a few years. You’ll have to wait, I’m afraid.”

“What would you even do with a cheese wheel that big?” Sebastian asked his friend as the portly woman resumed walking.

“Brag about it, duh!”

Ashe fell quiet as he and Seb and Abigail all began to debate the ethics of owning that much solid cheese. After several minutes, he slipped away from his display, walking slowly over to where Percy was packing up his. “Congratulations on winning, Percy.” He praised with a slightly forced smile, making the posh farmer pause and look to him in genuine surprise. “You knocked the competition out of the park.”

“… Well, thank you.” It took Percy a few moments to regain his composure. He certainly hadn’t been expecting his rival of all people to come and congratulate him. “I have to admit, yours was quite impressive as well. Not that there was ever any doubt that I’d win,” he resumed packing up his display, “but I wasn’t expecting you to pull something that refined together.”

It was Ashe’s turn to be surprised. He… was talking to the same Percy that lived next door to him, right? Because it didn’t seem like it right now. “… Thank you. Next year, I’m going to win for sure.”

He expected Percy to point out how he’d made that claim this year; to his surprise, Percy just chuckled and smirked to him. “I expect you to give me a run for my money. Victory tastes much sweeter when you’ve worked to earn it.”

It had to be something in the water. Ever since he’d come to this backwater place, Percy had changed. Seeing these hicks and hillbillies live their lives, work and toil for the little they had and be happy for it, really had gotten him to thinking. Not that he’d ever say anything to them, of course; after all, he was there on a job of his own, and in the end, he had to emerge victorious just like he had today. But damn if he didn’t feel a little bad about what was going to happen when he won…


	19. October 12 - Part 1

The thing about fall, especially in the valley, was that the weather tended to be unpredictable. In the span of an hour, it could go from being pleasantly sunny, to an icy downpour, to overcast, then back to dazzling sun. It wasn’t so bad if you happened to be inside where it was warm and dry; if you were unlucky enough to be out and about when the weather began to change, though…

“Wow, it’s really coming down out there.” Emily commented from the couch in the living room of the house she shared with Haley, pulling back the curtains on the window to watch the rain come down in heavy sheets. “That’s just fall in the valley for you. It’s too bad it’s so cold out, I wouldn’t mind a thunderstorm.”

“I would.” Haley shot her sister a scathing look from the crafting nook they’d set up in a corner of the kitchen. “All that electricity makes my hair frizz, so that’s a _hard_ pass from me.”

“Aw, come on.” Emily shifted to rest her arms on the back of the couch, content to watch the raindrops race one another down the window. “You don’t enjoy them even a little? The sound of the rain on the roof is so peaceful…”

“Would you can it? I’m trying to do something here.” There was a good deal of pent up exasperation behind Haley’s voice; giving Emily another reproachful look, she turned her attention back to the infernal sewing machine sitting before her. “This outfit’s gotta turn out perfect, or else I can kiss that full ride scholarship good-bye.”

Emily hid the smile that came onto her face; she was used to dealing with Haley’s standoffish behavior, so it was nothing new for her to be told off like that. She knew the reason why her sister was so on edge as well, so she didn’t mind acquiescing and just quietly enjoying the storm. “…. Hm?”

She sat up a little and pulled the curtains back more as movement outside caught her eye; there, running down the street towards the Cindersap forest, was the farmer boy, holding his bag up over his head to try and fend off the icy rain.

“What?” Haley glanced up briefly as Emily got up from the couch. “Oh Yoba, don’t tell me you spotted another bird. We’re not keeping it.”

Without giving an answer, Emily hastily traipsed over to the door and threw it open. “Ashe!” She called as the petite farmer jogged past. “Here, come inside before you catch a chill!”

Ashe practically skidded to a stop on the slick pavement. “A-Are you sure?” He asked, looking a bit hesitant as he hugged himself to try and keep warm.

Nodding her head, Emily stepped aside while holding the door open; after a moment, Ashe jogged over, trying not to brush against her with his sopping wet clothes as he crossed the threshold into the house. “Th-thank you so much, Emily.”

“Hey, what are neighbors for?” Emily gave him a friendly smile as she shut the door behind them. “I’ll grab some towels and get some hot tea going, that should help warm you back up.”

It took a few minutes to brew the tea, but before long Ashe was bundled up on the couch, his nearly numb hands clutching at a cup of strong peppermint tea. “Sorry for getting your couch all wet.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’ll dry, won’t it? Anyway, you stay right here until the rain lets up, and then you march yourself right back home and take a hot bath so you don’t catch a cold.”

As Emily passed the crafting nook to go back into the kitchen, Haley snorted quietly. “That’s not even a real thing.” She grumbled, trying to focus on her work again. Every few seconds she’d glance around the sewing machine into the living room to sneak a look at Ashe, who was quietly sipping away at his tea. He was awful small for a farmer, and for a boy for that matter. Pretty sure he was about the same size as someone like Abigail, even…

Shifting to be able to look out the window, Ashe idly drummed his fingertips against the cup. _‘I hope the rain’s not too cold for the crops…’_ He thought anxiously, his brow furrowed in concern at the idea of it. The pumpkins weren’t long from ripe, which was good since Spirits’ Eve was fast approaching. With any luck, he’d be able to let Jas pick out her pumpkin before opening the fields to the public..

“Hey.”

Jumping a little, Ashe turned to look at Haley, who had come to stand before him. “H-Hello, Haley.” He greeted slowly. He and Haley hadn’t really had any interaction since he moved to Pelican Town; she was always either absorbed into something like photography, or content to just ignore his dirt-covered self any time they passed.

Haley folded her arms over her chest as she gave him a hard look. “… Take off your clothes.”

The sudden demand made Ashe’s face turn a deep shade of crimson, and nearly made him spill the tea all over himself. “Oh, don’t flatter yourself, I’m not saying to get naked.” Haley scoffed with a shake of her head. “Look, you don’t want to catch a cold or whatever by staying in those wet clothes of yours, right?”

“N-No, but…” Ashe was more confused than uncomfortable at this point. “I don’t… have anything else to change into…?”

“Oh, my _Yoba_ —” Frustrated, Haley practically shoved some dry clothes into his face. “Are you really that dense? The bathroom’s through that door there,” she pointed, “so quit asking stupid questions and go put these on!”

“Y-Yes ma’am!” Not wanting to be scolded again, Ashe hastily set the tea on the coffee table and disappeared into the bathroom. It felt incredibly awkward to him, first being invited into their home when he didn’t know either of them very well and now changing in their bathroom into…. “Um, Haley?”

“ _Whaaaat_?” Haley’s impatient voice snapped from the other side of the door.

“Are you sure these are the clothes you meant to give me–?”

“YES! Just put them on already!” 

Hearing her sister’s exasperation, Emily stepped out from the kitchen to see her waiting impatiently by the bathroom. “What are you up to?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“… Yes, actually, that’s why I asked.”

“Well, if Farmer Dork here would hurry it up, you could see.” Haley drummed her fingertips against her arm; she was never a patient girl, and it was really grinding her gears that Ashe was taking his sweet time to change.

After almost a minute, the door unlocked and began to open—“ _Finally_ ,” Haley huffed—and a very meek Ashe stepped into view; no longer was he wearing the overalls and bright orange turtleneck. Emily’s jaw dropped a little at the sight of him, clad in a lilac-colored t-shirt type top hanging baggily over a long sleeved white dress shirt. Instead of pants, a pair of charcoal shorts—also baggy and oversized for his small frame—covered the upper parts of his legs, while clean white leggings pulled halfway up his thighs covered most of the rest. He looked like… a totally different person, and quite an uncomfortable, embarrassed one at that.

“Hrm….” Haley grabbed his arm and pulled him to stand in the middle of the living room, taking her time to walk circles around him and examine him from every angle; more than once she would stop, tug on a piece of the fabric, make a noise of discontent, and then resume her circular march. Out of nowhere, she let out a frustrated yell. “Yoba, this won’t win the scholarship!”

“Scholarship?” Confused, Ashe looked to her, then to Emily, who gave him a sympathetic smile and a shrug of her shoulders.

“Haley’s trying to get into a fashion design academy in Zuzu City.” She explained simply. “But it’s a pretty expensive school to get into, so she’s trying to win a full ride scholarship.”

“Yeah, and I can kiss those hopes good-bye if this is the best that I can come up with!” Haley yanked on Ashe’s sleeve, obsessing over every flaw in the fabric. “ _Ugh_ , I worked so hard on this too!”

“Is it really that bad?” Ashe looked down at himself; sure, these weren’t clothes that he would ever pick out for himself or wear while working on the farm, but they weren’t _awful_. “If you made these yourself, then that’s really impressive.”

Haley gave him a hard look. “… Of course you would say that. You wear denim overalls every day.” She grumbled, roughly letting go of his arm and looking away with a frustrated pout. “…. Thanks, though. I guess they don’t look so bad when you’re wearing them.”

Another idea struck her, and she whipped around to face Ashe again with her eyes glinting. “I know. I’m sure to design something amazing if I’ve got someone to model outfits on! C’mon, you’ll do that for me, right?”

“Haley, don’t be selfish.” Emily stepped in between the two and shook her head. “Ashe doesn’t have time to be a dress up doll for you.”

“Actually…. I don’t mind.”

Surprised, Emily looked over her shoulder to Ashe. “Are you sure? You don’t have to play along with her, you know.”

“Yeah, I know.” Ashe nodded his head slowly. “But I want to. I think it’s wonderful that Haley wants to go to a school like that. And I want to help her. If that means that I have to dress up every so often, that’s okay.”

Rather than being elated, Haley couldn’t help but feel a little muted. She had kind of expected Ashe to just play along begrudgingly, and she’d been okay with that, but hearing him so willing to help her like that made her feel just the littlest bit of guilt. She hadn’t expected him to be so… nice.

“You’re really kind of a pushover, aren’t you?” She asked a few minutes later, as she was busy taking Ashe’s measurements; now that she had a willing participant, she needed them so that the next outfit prototype wouldn’t hang like a burlap sack on him. “I bet you don’t even know what the word ‘no’ is.”

“I do!” Ashe insisted meekly. “I just… don’t say it very often. Besides, I really do want to help you. I didn’t know that you had such a wonderful dream. But… why ask me, specifically? Why not ask someone like Emily, or Abigail, or Penny?”

“Are you kidding?” Haley crouched down to take Ashe’s leg measurements. “Like they’d ever agree to help me. I know nobody in town likes me very much. You’re pretty much the only person that would put up with me besides Emily. And there’s no way that Emily would wear anything I made, even just to model it.”

“I-I see….”

“Geez, you’re such a twig!” Making a note of his measurement, she jotted it down on the notebook by her feet. “How does someone who works on a farm have such skinny arms and legs? I’m actually kind of jealous…”

Ashe’s cheeks tinted a bit pink at the comment; to be honest, he was embarrassed about how small he was. It wasn’t like he didn’t try to put on weight, because he did. “If you don’t mind me asking… what made you want to study fashion design?”

“Well,” Haley picked up the notebook and straightened up to set it by the table where her sketchpad was, “I don’t know if you’ve realized it, but I’m not exactly the most petite person on the planet. Alex likes to tell me I’m thicc with 2 c’s, whatever that means. And it’s really frustrating sometimes to find clothes that are cute or sexy or just _nice_ for bigger girls—if you’ve got a butt, or a big chest, or a thick waist or thighs, then there’s not much selection for you, and it’s usually fugly as hell on top of being expensive.” She sighed and leaned against the table as she folded her arms across her chest again, a frustrated frown on her face. “So I got to thinking that if no one out there is making stuff for plus sized people, then I would. And not just for the bigger girls, either—I want to make a line of clothing that caters to all shapes and sizes and gender identities. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you identify as or what your body is—” she suddenly struck a determined and triumphant pose, a fire practically burning in her eyes, “you should be able to wear nice clothes like everyone else!”

Her sudden outburst of passion caught Ashe quite off-guard. They were both strangers to one another, so he really had no idea that she had such ambition.

“So yeah.” Haley leaned back against the table again. “Of course, the fact that filling a gap in the market would bring in _loads_ of money is a nice bonus, but more than anything, helping people feel good about themselves is my main goal. And even though I’m mostly aiming towards plus sized women,” she gave Ashe the faintest of smiles, “I appreciate that you’re helping me out here. But I’m blaming you if I don’t get into this academy, you got that?”

“Right…” Ashe half laughed at the idle threat.

“Alright then.” Glancing out the window, Haley saw that the rain had all but stopped. “Oh hey, the rain’s let up. You probably should get out of here before it picks up again.”

“Ah, really?” Ashe looked outside as well, relieved that he would be able to get home. “I’ll go change real quick—”

“Go ahead and keep those clothes, by the way.” She added as he moved towards the bathroom. “They’re nowhere near good enough to get a scholarship with, and I’m never going to wear them. Actually, do me a favor and wear them around for awhile. I want to at least see how they hold up under wear and tear.”

“You… want me to wear this around town?” Ashe looked down at himself again, his face turning red just imagining being seen by other people—let alone Shane.

“Yup. You got a problem with that?”

Catching the ‘look’ that Haley was giving him, Ashe decided it wasn’t worth the battle. “N-No, no problem.”

“Good. Now get going.” Considering their little ‘appointment’ done, Haley sat herself at the design desk and opened up her sketchpad to a blank page. It was back to square one, but she had numbers and points of references this time.

Sighing internally—he really was a giant pushover, wasn’t he?—Ashe got his wet clothes out of the bathroom and began to the front door. “Oh, before you go!” Emily called, catching his attention as she traipsed out of the kitchen with an old umbrella in hand. “I knew we had one sitting in one of our closets, so I dug it out for you. Wouldn’t want you to get caught out in the rain again, now would we?”

“Ah, thank you!” Grateful, Ashe accepted the umbrella. “I’ll make sure to return it.”

“Oh, there’s no need for that. Keep it! It’s not like we ever use it anyway.” Emily gave him a smile and a wave. “Be careful on your way home, alright?”

“I will.” Ashe clutched the umbrella against his chest and bowed his head to her. “Thank you again!”

As Emily shut the front door, Haley leaned over to watch Ashe disappear down the road through the window. “You know…” She began slowly, resting her chin on her hand as she sat back and picked up her pencil. “He’s not anything like I thought he would be.”

“What did you think he’d be like?” Emily picked up the empty tea cup from the coffee table and took it into the kitchen.

“I dunno… like you, probably. Super weird and hippie-dippie. I didn’t expect this… puffball pushover.” Tapping the tip of her pencil against the pad, Haley had a contemplative look on her face. “And what’s with that ‘I want to help you’ stuff he was spouting?”

“That’s just how Ashe is.” Emily rinsed the cup out in the sink and came to stand next to her sister’s desk. “He’s just a genuinely caring person. How else do you think he and Shane ended up together?”

“I guess.” Haley looked down to the blank page before her. “… Hey, go and get my laptop for me. I need to look up some inspo.” It was time to fill that blank page up with a fresh design.

As Ashe moved from the town proper to the boundaries of the Cindersap forest, he sneezed into his elbow; despite having been warmed up in their house, he still felt a chill deep in his bones. _‘Maybe I should have an early night tonight…’_


	20. October 12 - Part 2

The gentle _plink-plink_ of the rain on the bathhouse’s roof gave Shane something to listen to as he slowly shrugged out of his jeans and hoodie; he wasn’t there to make use of the actual bath, not yet anyway. Sam had asked for another one of his shifts, and Shane had agreed, glad to get an extra day off. It gave him a chance to finally follow up on that decision to start getting back in shape, and so he dragged his sorry butt up the mountain path to make use of the small gym in the bathhouse. Like _hell_ he was going to make the long trip into Zuzu to use a gym there.

It felt so odd to be back in a place that he once considered a home away from home. Back in his college sports days, his free time was usually spent working out, to the point where it was borderline obsessive. Now here he was, over a decade later, all flabby and out of shape and disgusting.

Well, there was only one way to change that, and so he resolutely tugged a plain black tank top and gym shorts on. He really didn’t like wearing so little clothing, but he was already going to be sweating up a storm, and it wasn’t like anyone else ever used the place.

That being said, he didn’t exactly know where to even start. Stepping from the changing area into the gym space proper, his eyes shifted from the bench press, to the treadmill, to the bicycle, to the barbells—and he began to feel a little overwhelmed. He wasn’t looking to ever get back into gridball, so maybe focusing on his cardio would help him shed the pounds; on the other hand, building more muscle would let him naturally burn more calories, but then he would have to buy new clothes since what he had now wouldn’t fit anymore—then again, that was something he was going to have to do anyway if he did start to slim down…

“If you’re looking for a place to start, you could warm up with a couple farmers’ walks.”

Shane just about jumped out of his skin as Alex strode into the gym space. “Fuck, don’t sneak up on people like that.”

“Wasn’t trying to.” Alex didn’t seem bothered by the fact that he’d started the older man; he casually set a duffel bag down by the bench press and began to do some warm up stretches. “Oh, you probably wanna do some stretches before you actually start. Might end up pulling something if you don’t.”

“Yeah, I know that much.” Shane was even more hesitant to start now that Alex was here. “… Know what, I’ll just come back another time…”

Alex stopped mid-stretch and looked at him in surprise. “Huh? Why? There’s plenty of space for both of us.”

“That’s… not exactly the issue.” But Shane wasn’t going to explain to a 20-something kid that he was self-conscious about his body.

A look of genuine cluelessness was on Alex’s face. “Then what is? C’mon, working out with a buddy is better. We can even play some music on my phone.”

The offer left Shane somewhat at a loss for what to do. A couple of months ago, he wouldn’t have thought twice about brushing him off or just plain ignoring him and leaving without a word. Now here he was, trying to figure out how to talk his way out of this without hurting the kid’s feelings. It had to be Ashe’s influence on him, no doubt about it…

“… Oh, I think I get it now.” A light had practically gone off in Alex’s head as he came to a realization. “You know, I think it’s pretty awesome that you’re trying to get back in shape. I don’t wanna get in the way of that, so I’ll just lift some weights at home today.”

Well, now Shane just felt bad. “Nah… don’t worry about it.” He sighed and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “If you really don’t mind an old lard-ass like me sharing the gym, that is.”

“Don’t mind at all.” Alex strode over to the stereo and hooked his phone up to it. “Got any song requests?”

“Just whatever you think would motivate me.” Well, there was no sense in putting it off any longer. Deciding that he would rather do the treadmill that day (it was further away from where Alex was going to work out), Shane moved to the machine and started to slowly stretch. He was surprised at how many different stretches he remembered from his sports days.

The sound of what could only be described as ‘pumped up workout tracks’ began to play over the stereo, and the two of them fell silent as they set about burning calories. Every so often, Shane couldn’t help but glance over towards Alex, envious of the ease with which he pumped iron—and then he immediately derided himself for being jealous of a kid in the prime of his youth, who had put in the time and effort to get that fit in the first place.

“You used to be a professional gridball player, right?” During a lull in the music, Alex decided to ask a question he’d always wanted to ask.

“Wouldn’t say professional.” Shane corrected, huffing and puffing something fierce as he jogged away on the treadmill; he’d found a relatively comfortable pace to stick to, one that got his heart pumping but still felt like he could maintain for awhile. “I played for my university gridball team, so if you count that, then sure.”

“What made you stop?”

Almost as if on cue, Shane’s bad knee gave a sharp jolt and nearly locked up. “That right there.” He grimaced, after hastily shutting the treadmill off before he fell. “I messed up my knee and that was the end for me. Can’t exactly play gridball when your knee is screwed up.”

“That must have sucked.” Alex set his weights down and took a swig of water from his branded water bottle. “… You think I have a shot at going pro?”

It was a question that caught Shane off-guard. “Uh… you’re asking the wrong person.” Why Alex thought he could tell, he had no idea. “I mean, you’ve probably got as good as shot as anybody else. Never seen you play or anything, but if you’re serious about it then I don’t see why not.” He shrugged his shoulders. Honestly, he knew it wasn’t the answer Alex wanted to hear. He didn’t need to know the aspiring athelete to see his younger self in him, that same aspiration to go big burning bright in his heart. “…If there’s any advice I can give you, it’s to have a plan to fall back on.”

Seeing the blank look on Alex’s face, he sighed, walked over to where Alex was sitting, and sank down onto the bench beside him. “It’s one thing to decide to try and go pro, and it’s great that you’ve got that ambition and that drive. But don’t let that be the _only_ thing going for you. If things don’t work out, or you end up hurt so bad you can’t play anymore, you need to have a Plan B… otherwise you end up a loser like me, working for a company like Joja and miserable every minute of every hour of every day.”

Alex was quiet for a few minutes, quite clearly thinking about what Shane had said. “… I get what you’re saying.” He said slowly. He’d never really put any thought into a plan B; after all, he always thought that it was a guarantee that he’d achieve his goal. But the thought of ending up like Shane really put things into perspective. “…. You’re not that miserable anymore though, are you? You’re way different than you used to be.”

“….Yeah, I guess I am.” Shane looked down at his hands. Some days it didn’t feel like it. Others, it felt like he was worse. But they were outnumbered by the good days now… and he never used to have those at all. “But my point is, don’t put all your eggs in one basket hoping things will work out how you want them. Nobody should ever feel as bad as I used to.”

With a groan, he pushed himself back to his feet. “That’s just my two cents, anyway. It’s your call in the end.”

Alex stayed sitting for a few more seconds, quite obviously having a lot to think about. That was fine with Shane, who felt a little more comfortable with getting back on the treadmill now that the kid was zoning out. It was pretty common knowledge that Alex was 90% brawn and 10% brains, so it wasn’t a surprise that it was taking him awhile to digest the advice. “… Do you wish things had turned out different?” He finally asked, almost a half an hour later.

Having reached his limit, Shane had quit the treadmill and was trying to catch his breath on the chair beside it; the rain had more or less settled down by that point, only barely audible over the music playing on the stereo. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, like… do you wish you could have gone on playing gridball?”

“Well, of course. When I think about where I could have gone, the money I could have had, the life I could have lead… there’s no way I don’t think ‘if only’.” Gingerly, Shane rubbed at his aching knee. There would always be a part of him that wanted that outcome. But then he remembered how much joy he got from the chickens at Marnie’s ranch, from being able to dance with Jas under the porchlight in the summer, from having someone like Ashe by his side through the best and worst of him, and realized that he didn’t want to trade any of that for all the money and fame in the world. “But I don’t have it so bad here, not anymore. So I’m not missing what I never had.”

With more than a little effort, he heaved himself up from the chair and started towards the locker room. As he passed by Alex, he clapped him on the shoulder, just briefly. It was strange to think that just a few months ago, he didn’t give two shits about other people in the valley besides Marnie and Jas. And now here he was, getting invested in someone else’s future. It was almost frightening, how much he had changed, but it wasn’t nearly as scary as the prospect of going back to the way he was. There was only one path, and it was forward. Towards the future, towards more change. Towards a brighter tomorrow.


	21. October 21

Damn pre-game nerves. Even after so many years of not playing the sport, Shane still got butterflies in his stomach any time he got near a gridball field. It had been a huge part of his college life, after all. But today, it wasn’t really the prospect of the game that had him so nervous.

“I’m so excited.” Ashe chimed, looking out the bus window as they rode towards Zuzu city. “I’ve never been to a gridball game before.”

“You haven’t?” It was almost hard to hear him over the general chatter in the bus; it wasn’t just them heading to the game, of course, and the rest of the bus was positively packed with other game-goers.

“Nope. We never really had the money for tickets or anything like that, not that we were hardcore fans or anything. We’d still watch the game on the TV, though.”

“Gotcha. I’m glad you’re excited for this then.”

It was Ashe’s 20th birthday present from Shane, this trip. It was something that Shane had agonized over for way too long, truth be told; as much as he wanted to get him something special, he couldn’t afford much, and there wasn’t anything really that Ashe wouldn’t be able to get or make for himself. This, though, this trip would get him away from the farm for a day and let him have Shane all to himself for a change. He figured that was one of the best gifts he could give to his boyfriend.

An hour and a half later, they fought their way through the crowd into the stadium and claimed their seats– thanks to an old buddy of Shane’s, he’d managed to snag two right in the front row where all the action was. It was kind of hilarious watching Ashe’s head practically swiveling on his neck as he tried to look at everything at once.

The Tunnelers and the rival Ramhorns soon took the field, and it was even cuter to see Ashe getting so worked up and into the game. Of course, Shane was right there beside him, the pair of them whooping and cheering and jumping up and down with each goal and interception. Neither of them had any thoughts on their minds– nothing about the farm, nothing about recovering, no Joja, no work, no past, no future. Only the game playing out before their eyes in that moment.

Come halftime, it wasn’t looking good for their team; the Tunnelers were down seven points and the Ramhorns were fighting hard to keep it that way. There was a fierce rivalry between the teams and their fans, and Shane saw more than a few arguments and even a fistfight break out on his way to the concession stand.

“Sheesh… people these days.” He muttered to himself, drinks and snacks in hand, as he watched the fistfight be broken up by security. That went double for the people he had to wind around to get back to the stands, all of whom seemed wholly oblivious to the fact that they were standing right in the way. He really hated crowds….

Finally, he made it back to their seats, somehow unscathed. “Sorry that took so long. Here, I got you another hot chocolate.”

“Aw, thanks~” Ashe was grateful for the beverage, reaching out to accept it with numb hands; seeing how red his fingers were, Shane instead set their drinks in their cupholders. He took the farmer’s hands into his own and brought them up to his mouth, gently blowing on them to warm the cold digits. “Th-that tickles…”

“You should have said you were cold, dork.” When his hands were warmed up a bit, Shane let them go and shrugged off his jacket. “Here.”

“Eh– what about you?”

“I’ll be fine. I have enough fat to keep warm without it… There. Looks pretty good on you, actually. Maybe I should let you keep it.” Shane took his seat beside him and handed him the hot chocolate, then cracked into a can of soda for himself and dug into the chili cheese fries he’d also gotten for them to share. “…. Hey, so. I’ve been meaning to say…”

Ashe paused, a chili-loaded fry partway to his mouth, to give him his full attention.

“Thanks for sticking with me through everything… my anxiety, depression… you know… You’re a lot of things to me, but you’ve been a really good friend above everything else.”

It was gratitude that was way overdue, in his opinion. So many things in his life were different now, simply because this one person got it in his head to befriend him. There really weren’t words enough to properly express how he felt, but he tried his best, and the smile he got from Ashe in response made him smile too. “… So, what do you think about your first gridball game so far?”

“Hm…” Ashe took his time to eat a couple of fries before answering. “It’s been a lot of fun~ Honestly, back home’s going to seem boring after this is over.”

“Really? I’m surprised. Thought you wanted to escape the noise of the city.” There was a pause as Shane took a gulp of soda to soothe his parched throat. “ I mean… Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand. Life in Pelican Town can get pretty bland at times… okay, a lot of the time.” Another pause. “… Maybe we can come to the city again next month or something. Just to break up the monotony.”

“I think I’d like that.”

The game picked back up a few minutes later, and the Tunnelers were on the offensive. They were determined to close the lead the Ramhorns held over them, one point at a time. The air was thick with electric tension as the clock ticked down– six points, then five, four, three, two, one…

With less than a minute left, they had the score tied. Shane was actually sweating despite not having his coat on anymore, perched on the edge of his seat and leaning forward with his hands tightly gripping the armrests. Strats were racing through his head like they used to back in his gridball days, his heart was pounding in his chest.

Thirty seconds left. The Ramhorns intercepted, but the Tunnelers quickly recovered and made one last push down the field. It was a battle for every foot, but they were going to fight it to the very last second. Five, four, three, two, one–

“GOOAAAAAL!!!”

The stands erupted with blues and greens as the Tunnelers scored, filling the air with joyful screams as their team anthem blared. Leaping up from his seat, Shane thrust his fists triumphantly towards the sky with a booming _whoooooop_. Before he could stop himself, he grabbed Ashe by the arms and pulled him into an over the excited kiss. He could taste the hot chocolate and chili lingering on his boyfriend’s lips as he leaned into it, and the brief moment of _‘oh shit_ ’ was over as he wrapped his arms around Shane’s neck.

It was definitely a great game. And the Tunnelers won, too.


	22. October 29

“Shane! Phone!”

Still half-asleep, Shane cracked open the bathroom door with toothbrush in mouth to answer Marnie’s call. “Kin’a bushy—tell ‘em to ‘all ba’ in li’, a few mi’utes.”

“Alright,” she held the phone to her ear, “sorry Ashe, he said to call back in a few minutes.”

“Wai’ wai’ wai’, you di’n’t say it was Ashe—”

Hurriedly Shane spat the foamy toothpaste in his mouth into the sink and opened the door wider, hand outstretched to take the phone. Marnie stifled a laugh behind her hand and returned to the kitchen to give the call some privacy.

“What’s up, chickadee?”

“Shane you need to come over and see this _right now_ , I need to know if what I’m looking at is real or not, it just popped up out of nowhere overnight—”

Ashe was _frantic_ , speaking so quickly that Shane almost couldn’t keep up with him.

“Ashe, I’m having a slow start today. What’s going on?”

He could hear Ashe take a deep breath on the other end.

“Okay, so,” he began, slower this time, “you know my pumpkin patch?”

“Yeah? What about it?”

“Well, when I went to bed last night everything was just fine, and this morning—you have to come and see it yourself. You’re not going to believe me if you don’t.”

“There’s a literal wizard living in a tower in the forest and monsters in the mines. Trust me, I can believe a lot.”

“And there’s a shadow man living in the sewers!” Jas piped up from the kitchen.

“Right, and the shadow man—” Shane did a double-take. “Okay, that’s a new one… And quit eavesdropping on me.”

“Not my fault you’re talking so loud!”

Jas sure was getting an attitude lately. He stepped back into the bathroom and shut the door as much as he could without severing the phone cord.

“Look, bugaboo, I’m happy to come and see you this morning. You just gotta give me like, twenty minutes to wake up. I haven’t even had any coffee yet.”

“Okay…” Ashe sighed. “Sorry, I know it’s early still… It’s just, calling you was the first thing that came to mind when I saw this.”

“And trust me, I’m more than happy about that.” A grin split Shane’s stubbled face. “I’ll be over in a bit.”

###

Shane didn’t know what to expect when he made the trek up to the farm, but it certainly wasn’t the carriage-sized pumpkin sitting snugly right in the center of Ashe’s prized pumpkin patch.

“… Is that a giant ass pumpkin?” He asked as the farmer jogged down the dirt path to meet him. “Or are my eyes playing tricks on me?”

“See?! That’s what I thought too!” Ashe gestured for him to climb over the fence surrounding the patch so they could both see the behemoth up close. “And it’s not just this,” he waved a hand to the rest of the patch, “all of these just ripened overnight.”

“Jesus fuck,” Shane rubbed his freshly shaved chin, “where was this at the fair? You’d have won the grange for sure… What are you gonna do with it?”

“Well… Hm. I didn’t think about that yet.” Ashe rapped on the outside of it with his knuckles—a nice, deep sound resounded throughout—and took a step back, pursing his lips in thought.

Shane gave him a few minutes as he tried to warm his cold fingers with his breath. Come to think of it, he only just now noticed that Ashe had taken to wearing some… untraditional clothing on the farm. It was mostly girly clothes, lots of pastel colors and frills and bows—one day he went around doing his chores in a skirt, even.

“… Bugaboo, can I ask you something?”

“Hm? Ask me what?”

“It’s just… Hoo boy, how do I say this…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I… noticed you’ve been wearing some different clothes lately. Today too,” he nodded towards the outfit he was in now, a lavender tunic and leggings, “and I just—if you’re, y’know—I mean, what I’m trying to say is—I don’t know a lot about LGBT stuff, but you know you can always tell me if you’re using different pronouns, or you want to try out a different name, or… yeah.”

“Oh.” Ashe looked down at himself. He seemed almost… embarrassed.

“And that’s not to say that there’s anything wrong with you just wanting to wear girly clothes, either,” Shane added hastily in response. “You do you. I’ll support you no matter what.”

“… Thank you…”

Ashe wore a bashful little smile as he lifted his face to look up at Shane. “But I’m not—I’m happy as a guy. It’s just,” he uncomfortably tugged at the scarf wrapped around his neck, “I’m being a human mannequin for Haley. I really don’t like wearing most of this stuff, honestly.”

“Well— tell her that, maybe?”

“… You don’t tell Haley no.”

“Get Emily to tell her then. Hell, I’ll march down there and bring it up for you if you want.”

“Nonono, that’s okay! It’s not a big deal, I can put up with it! It’s just until Haley gets into this college she’s been eying.”

“Bugaboo, give people like her an inch and she’ll take a mile.”

Ashe sighed. “I know… I’ll… talk to her. Eventually. I’ve got too much other stuff to worry about right now.”

“… Yeah, that’s fair.” He paused, then, “For what it’s worth… you look cute no matter what you’re wearing.”

A red hue flared up on Ashe’s cheeks. “Hehe… thanks, Shane.” He looked back to the giant pumpkin. It was reassuring to know that, even if he did start to question himself, Shane would be right there with him the whole time. It meant a lot.

And then, an idea came to him.

“I’ve got it!” He clasped his hands together. “I can make this pumpkin into a giant carriage prop for Spirits’ Eve!”

“ _We_.” Shane nudged him with his elbow. “You can’t hollow this thing out by yourself before the festival.”

“I could ask Rasmodius to help.”

“… Okay, what is the deal with that guy anyway?”


End file.
